Young Justice: Titans
by Angelus-v1
Summary: One year after defeating Darkseid, The League has expanded to include a third team. Where the black ops team operate on the sly, this new team will be publicly known. But now a new threat is on the horizon, one with a strong foot hold in Earth and looking for the perfect chance to strike with neither Earth's heroes or villain's knowing anything about it. My version of a season 4.
1. Prologue

**AN: By a score of 80%-20%, the one year skip storyline won. This will follow the same format as 'Darkness Falls' with subtle changes like the amount of chapters making up an episode, which will now be 4-5. Again, each chapter, except the prologue, will be at least 2,000 words in length and will be updated most likely once a week due to my Muay Thai classes. I will also be posting some of what I learned on Tumblr and Blogger to share what I have learned the hard way. Links are on my author page so feel free to drop by with questions or comments. **

**So, without further adieu, enjoy!**

Prologue

April 15

Brazil-Central Amazon River

23:07 UTC

Through the dense darkened jungle of Brazil, heavy footsteps ran over rain saturated ground as the body they carried breathed heavily. Blood dripped onto the ground as the booted feet dashed over rock and mud. Branches were hit aside as were large leaves and vines, which caused more of the rain to splash onto the figure running for their life.

"Here! Over here!" a voice shouted from somewhere behind the figure.

"Do not let him escape! He must be sacrificed!" another voice shouted.

Slipping on a few loose leaves, the figure landed face first in the mud. A red skinned hand quickly cleaned the sediment off as the fleeing individual got back up and continued to run when the loud crack of a rifle echoed around him. The bullet came close to striking his arm and ricochet off a stone. Having to ignore the near death, the figure continued onward as the jungle behind him seemed to come alive.

Trees shook as a large mass of people flanked the figure on three sides, leaving only one direction for him to go. Voices carried over the jungle as a ritual chant began the closer they got to their target. The sound of blades unsheathing could be heard with the rain and thunder occurring around them. Another shot rang out, this one striking the fleeing person in the leg, sending them tumbling down a shallow hill lined with rocks where they stopped just shy of falling off a steep cliff to the Amazon basin some miles below.

Grunting, the individual fought to get back to their feet when a pair of boots appeared before them.

"Congratulations," the standing figure said. "You have afforded myself and my men a sporting hunt, but it has to come to an end, devil child."

Crawling forward, the one being pursued gasped to catch his breath as he flipped long strands of white hair out of his face. "You...you won't get away with this. Blue Devil knows where I'm at and he-gak!"

"Will be dealt the same fate as you." Standing over the injured man, the figure had a boot over his throat. "Tell me, if your partner indeed cares about you, than where is he? He ran off without you, left you behind, gave your life to us while fleeing with the girl, and now, now we will take your life and please he who brings darkness to light."

A loud thunder clap filed the air as lighting lit up the sky. What looked like a monster being pinned to the ground was a mess. His black pants were torn with a hole from the bullet earlier pouring blood onto the mud underneath him. Red skin with patches of mud on it was slashed from blades finding their mark and where he once had two horns, he now had one as the other was cut off.

"Rest assured, we will find and sacrifice your partner as well as the girl. You two are the perfect ones to give your lives for the one who will bring an everlasting darkness to our world and she will serve as a...bonus sacrifice. For life is only temporary, but his rule is forever."

Reaching into his red and gold cloak, the figure pulled out a three pronged dagger with the blades situated in a triangle. He then signaled for four of his followers to hold the devil man down. Once they had him with his arms and legs stretched out, the first figure rose the dagger above his head.

"Oh lord, I give this life to you! May it hasten your arrival to us and bring upon your everlasting rule!"

Thunder and lightning filled the sky again as the rain increased in intensity.

"Please!" he devil looking person yelled. "Please, don't do this!"

"I am your right hand, my lord! Guide me in bringing your darkness into the light to bless your followers!"

In one swift motion, the man brought the tri-bladed dagger down, silencing the devil kid's words forever.

"Master," one of the followers said with their hooded head down.

"I know what you are going to ask, brother," the leader said as he replaced his dagger under his cloak. "We are close to welcoming our lord to this realm and need two more sacrifices. Tomorrow, I will dispatch our top agents to find those suitable to have their souls sent to our high and mighty. For now, we will bathe in the crimson life of our sacrifices including this pathetic wretch in front of us. In the meantime, I want the blue devil found and brought to me as well as the girl. Their sacrifices will be most welcome."

Turning to his other followers, he saw them all raise torches above their heads as they began chanting. "My brothers! Lift your voices high into the night air! Let your fire burn brightly! Give yourselves, mind, body, and soul to the Church of Blood and you will be saved! So says Brother Blood, so says Lord Trigon!"

The chanting grew louder as more and more torches were lit. If one were above the area, one would see hundreds of individual fires being lit as the rain, thunder, and lightning continued to fall.

Away from the chanting sea of people, a set of brown eyes watched from the safety of thick foliage. Dirty, dainty dark skinned hands shook from fear as the girl the cloak wearing pursuers were hunting moved back into the darkness she used as a temporary sanctuary of safety. Her white dress was stained with mud with her hair pressed down to her head from the downpour. Beside her lay a large blue skinned individual with twin horns on his brow. Blood seeped from light wounds with large bruises covering his torso and face.

Not being able to move, out of fear of being discovered, the young woman moved back beside the blue devil man and tended to his wounds as best she could. Her eyes never strayed from the cliff for too long, should the large group decide to continue their search for her. She only hoped the ones the other, smaller one was safe and the friends they spoke of would find them.

**AN2: Keep an eye out for another update today since this first chap was so short.**


	2. Rookies 1-1

**AN: Aright, here's the next post I promised earlier to make up for the short prologue. Next update won't be until next Sunday. See ya then.**

1. Rookies

1.

April 16

Jump City Outskirts

18:24 UTC

On the outskirts of Jump City, far from where anyone could hear, a large red and white stripped circus tent stood in the middle of a wide open area of rocky land. A few tumble weeds skipped over the dry soil as did the occasional piece of trash. The screech of a scavenger bird shot across the land, the only sound made around the tent. All was peaceful outside, inside was a completely different matter altogether.

Explosions filled the inside of the tent. Metal gears and shielding flew through the air along with large fireballs. Robotic animal parts, clown noses, and platform shoes littered the ground in what one could call a psychotic psychedelic circus. Everything had an English flair to it with the flag of Great Britain adorning the barrier separating the performance floor from the audience. A mock setup of Big Ben and other famous landmarks decorated the entrance to the circus' center ring with a seemingly never ending supply of robotic British Bobby's chased after a group of invaders while also guarding a cage full of children who were yelling to be saved.

"Eay, stop trashing my show!" shouted a scrawny Austin Powers wannabe. He waived a cane above his head and was on the edge of his Ring Master seat high above the battle. "Kids need to learn their place and-HEY! No one trashes the Royal-HEY...HEY!"

Ducking behind his chair as a black shrouded bench crashed into the spot he occupied, the ringmaster in a British flag patterned suit, kept his eye on the fight below while pressing a button on top of his cane. "These Yanks are gonna rue the day they came across Mad Mod."

On his command, the top of the circus tent began to spin. The red and white pattern became something similar to a hypnotic vortex with a door opening in its center. A mixture of robotic planes and primates came flying out on a collision course with the intruders below. Under the wings of the robotic fling machines, four barrels extended and opened fire on the first thing they targeted. As for the primates, they behaved in a mob-like fashion and ganged up on the first target they locked onto.

Below the just joining group of robotic weapons, a green cheetah with a black and purple collar, dashed through the gunfire from the planes. It's reflexes kept it one step ahead of the ballistics, which followed him relentlessly. Using that as an advantage, the green animal ran through the legs of several English robotic clowns. Each was destroyed from the volley of gunfire and fell with their destroyed servos causing their legs, arms, or heads to twitch.

Rising up from the ground, the spherical structure known as the Ball of Death, was surrounded with black energy as a young teenage girl floated within it. Her arms and legs were crossed in front of her as gunfire from several robotic trapeze artists rained down on her. With her eyes glowing a bright white, she muttered a quick incantation and threw her limbs out, which in turn caused the metal sphere she was in to explode around her and take out the ariel acrobats as well as their high wires and swings. As she looked down, her purple cloak flapped in the air, exposing her dark gray cargo pants and zippered, knee high boots. A golden, metal belt with red orb halves hung loosely around her waist. Fishnets covered her arms with fingerless gloves covering her hands except for her middle fingers while a black singlet covered her torso. A large raven was embossed across her chest in blue and shimmered in the light. As bits and pieces of the destroyed machines fell to the ground, another young girl was taking care of her business.

Sliding between two robotic strongmen, a blond teen girl in red thigh high boots and reflective red pants slashed their legs out from under them. With both automatons carrying a five hundred pound slab of concrete each, they fell backwards and were crushed by the same objects intended to flatten the teen. Once she was through with them, she then connected her slasher weapons together to form a bow when a whip from a lion tamer stuck her back. Stumbling forward, she was relieved her red, midriff baring leather top protected her from injury as she quickly knocked and fired an arrow at her attacker's head. Once struck, the machine fell to the ground with its head being blown off as the young girl flipped a strand of her long, blonde hair out of her mask covered face then moved on.

"GRAH! Lousy children! Think you can destroy my circus and get away with it?" Activating his cane's top switch, Mad Mod had the floor of the third ring open to allow an elevator to rise with three large robotic elephants ready to go.

With a loud trumpet, the three mechanical pachyderms charged forward with their trunks acting like tank turrents. Large rounds exploded around an incoming young man surrounded in a green energy. His black costume had lines coursing with green energy with a metallic looking mask covering his face. A glowing green ring on his right hand formed a large sword in the shape of a chef's knife with a long, flowing sash from it's handle. In one strong swing, he managed to slice trough the lead elephant in one swipe just as one of the other two fired its tusks, which were really missiles. Forming a shield he blocked the attack but was knocked back a few feet. Not letting that stop him, the light encased teen changed his sword into a magnum revolver with an extra long barrel and a blade attached to it. He made short work of the second of the two elephants with his 'gunblade' then moved onto the next.

Flying back into the main section of the tent, a black clad, green skinned woman with a large red 'X' over her chest re-entered the fray. Her costume was a one piece with red 'Xs' over her shins and a belt, which fed into the 'X' across her chest as well as a piped pattern down the side of her legs to above the knees, forming a pointed arrow-like flair. Unlike her previous costume, her arms were exposed starting at the shoulder where the red 'X' was with a black forearm cover and 'X' covering down to her knuckles. The top of her shoulders and up were uncovered, giving her a more mature look with a long, blue cape flowing from where the Martian insignia wrapped around the upper part of her back.

Motioning with her hands, the emerald woman had over a dozen pipes shoot ahead of her and impale five robotic animals, a tiger, two horses, and a bear. She did not have time to look over her work when two fire breathers launched twin streams of flame at her. As the fire shot forward, the green skinned woman held out an arm, creating an invisible vortex to force the fames around her instead of at her. As she passed the fire breathers, she cocked both fists back and slammed them through their heads as she made her skin as hard and tough as steel.

Across the arena, the robotic primates had banded together and simultaneously attacked the last of the intruders. Wearing black combat boots, dark blue cargo pants, and a dark crimson shirt with black embroidery leading to the center of his chest, the young man let out a roar as he smashed every droid to come close to him. He did everything from punching through their small bodies, crushing their heads in his bare hands, or curb stomping their metal skulls under his boots. Grabbing one of the primates by the tail, the super strong young man flung it around quickly before releasing it at Mad Mod where it crashed near where he hid. The resulting explosion managed to force the English villain to lose his grip on his cane, leaving him no choice but to watch it fall to the ground.

"Not my control cane! You little twits!" Leaping back into his chair, Mad Mod pressed a switch to have his chair lower to the ground with the last of his mechanical army being released. "Get my cane! Don't let those buggers near it!"

"You heard him!" yelled the green woman. "Target the cane! Maneuver eight! Arrowette, on point!"

Knocking an arrow, the red clad teen girl known as Arrowette leapt onto a small trampoline and shot into the air. At the peak of her jump, she released her arrow at the spot where the cane landed. A bright, blinding light erupted as the arrow was a flash bomb. The result was the closest of robots having their optical sensors fried, leaving them with the inability to target the intruders and begin flailing their arms about.

Following Arrowette's attack, the black and green teen boy formed an extraordinary long whip from his ring hand and sliced through several of the robot soldier's heads. Immediately after that, a green hawk rose into the air then morphed into a triceratops as it came back down. It charged forward, crashing into the advancing robots who took positions in front of where the cane lay. Clearing the way even more, the purple cloaked girl rose up behind the green dinosaur with her eyes glowing white. With her arms outstretched, she muttered an incantation and had her black energy enshroud nearby trapeze posts and forced them to crash behind the robots, cutting off their reinforcements and destroying them outright. Taking her que, the green skinned woman shot forward and unleashed a telekinetic wave to trash the remaining machines a moment before the super strong young man leapt into the air and came crashing down with his fist shattering the cane Mad Mod was after.

"NO!" Yelling from where he was, Mad Mod struggled to get out from under a pile of his English themed robotic soldiers and watched as everything in his circus tent came to a stop. The remaining robots slowed down and crumpled to the ground with the hypnotic devices above and around the group becoming still.

Standing in front of the defeated criminal, the six intruders looked down upon him. He had seen them on the TV before, a squad of teenagers taking it upon themselves to act as police for Jump City and other parts of the country. He even knew them by names but never seen them all in one place at the same time. There was the red clad female, the archer of the group named Arrowette. Next to her was the de-morphing dinosaur who became a green skinned teen named Beast Boy and was clad in a black jumpsuit with a purple 'T' shaped area covering his chest down to his stomach. Behind him was the green skinned young woman, Mrs. Martian, who was known for her incredible mental capabilities. Right beside her was the purple cloaked, Gothic girl who went by Raven. Her magic was incredibly powerful and was the cause of the downfall of several criminals as far as Mad Mod could remember. Beside her was the green and black suited teen boy who glowed the same emerald color as his suit with a lantern in the center of his chest. It was no surprise he was called Green Lantern by the press and was the only one, besides the archer, to wear a mask. The last of the group stood directly before him and easily lifted him into the air. The familiar 'S' shield of Superman rested on his broad chest and was enough to cause most criminals to stop what they were doing. Even though he went by Superboy, according to the news, he was anything but a boy.

"Where are the hostages?" Superboy asked as he stared into Mad Mod's eyes.

"Be...behind the main curtain," the English criminal told him. His outfit was covered in dirt and his chili-bowl haircut was a mess.

"Not speaking to you."

"I got them all out," Mrs. Martian informed him. "All thirty seven kids are waiting in the Bioship as we speak."

Looking the group over, Mad Mod saw that, even with each one wearing something different from the other, there was one common connection in their uniforms. In different spots on each was a 'T' symbol. Arrowette had hers on her oval belt buckle. The Green Lantern had his symbol formed where his belt should be and Beast Boy had his 'T' in the purple area of his uniform. Raven had hers in a red jeweled clamp around her neck where her cloak connected and the Martian had hers in the red area of the large 'X' on her torso. Finally, the one holding him up had his 'T' within a shield pattern on his shoulder.

"Now, now, my duckies," Mad Mod stuttered, "we can work all this out. No need to bop old Moddy on the head. I didn't know a few kidnappings would attract so much attention form you superhero lot. But I've never seen you all work together before. You, you a club of some kind? A band?"

"Doesn't matter," Superboy said, "you're still going to jail after you tell us what you were planning here."

"And just for reference," Beast Boy spoke up, "when you do go into that nice cozy cell of yours, you can tell your new buddies all about who put you there."

"And who might that be?" Mad Mod asked with a worried expression on his face.

"Please, do we really need to spell it out for you..."

TITANS


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Also glad to see returning readers and I hope everyone will like this as much as the last one I did. At the end are quick bios for the Titans to help get everyone caught up from the televised seasons and Darkness Falls. New ones will be added as the story goes on to see what differences between the original versions and my story's versions are. Think of them as the ones during the credits CN would air after the shows during DC Nation.**

**Gordhanx – Hope you enjoy this too and glad you loved the opening battle to start things off. I'm trying to match what I did with YJDF and hope I can come close to it.**

**Eric – Your questions of the others will be answered as the story goes on but hopefully this chap gives a hint at what I've set up going in. And yes, it will get dark.**

**DogsLiveOn – Don't fret, the team is still around and operating on the sly.**

**Veritas1995 – Great!**

**Riley 000 – The gun Lantern used is the same one Squall uses in FF8. I also did the first part of the bio, which is at the end of the chapter.**

**TheSecretNovelist – Thanks!**

**Ben A – I hope you'll like what I have planned for Raven and a few other TT characters I've included. And like the last one, there'll be a few instances where I'll include day to day activities for the cast.**

**Missvisibleninja – Since Eddie wasn't in either of the seasons, I didn't really know too much about him. I picked him as a start off death to make things personal for the League and team, even more so since he was with his mentor. His fate is what will get things going for the story.**

2.

April 17

Titans Tower-Jump City

08:01 UTC

Jump City, California, home to one point two million people who live ordinary lives. Men reported for work, women took their places at the office, children began their ritual of watching Saturday morning cartoons. All in all, it was just another normal day for a normal city teeming with countless stories belonging to the populace. Cars filled the streets with no traffic jams forming, planes flew in the air and traversed the clear, blue sky, and boats filled the harbor, leaving wakes in the clear water. No one could ask for a more beautiful city, especially with the artistic architecture of the buildings ranging from houses to sky scrapers.

In the middle of Jump City's harbor, some twenty miles from the nearest bridge, sat an island with the greenest grass and tress anyone could imagine. A beach provided the perfect area to access the piece of land no one could set foot on. It was impossible to get close due to the jagged rocks just beneath the surface of the water surrounding the island, unknown to the civilians they were purposely put there and were man made. Boat captains knew better than to get within three miles of it unless they want to sink. Aside from that, the populace also knew it was the base for a contingent of the League with the large, slick, 'T' shaped tower built in the middle of the island.

Within one of the structure's rooms at the top of the tower, muffled snoring lightly floated from the large bed where a large muscular man slept in a tanglement of sheets around his waist. Across the room, where the bathroom was, the sound of water running ceased a moment before the door opened as a green skinned young woman entered the room. Looking over at the man she shared a bed with, M'gann slightly shook her head as she grinned. Morphing her skin into a pair of jeans, white shirt, and tennis shoes from the sleep shirt she had on, she went around the bed to where her husband sept and sat on a cushion of air provided by her telekinesis.

"Conner," she said in a sing-song voice. "Conner, wake up."

The demi-Kryptonian didn't move.

"Conner." She then nudged his shoulder, inciting a tired moan from him. "Conner, come on. I told you to get up nearly fifteen minutes ago to get ready. The others are already here."

"Mrgh." shifting around, Conner inhaled deeply as he looked up at her with a sleep filled face. He had to squint his eyes due to the bright morning light cascading in through the large windows overlooking their bed.

"Clark and Kara can wake when the sun comes up, why can't you?" M'gann asked as she ran her fingers trough his hair as he got to his elbows.

"Well you did keep me up late after the Mad Mod thing."

"And don't pretend you didn't like it." Setting her feet back on the carpeted floor, M'gann gave Conner a light slap on the rear. "Come on, the computer shows three here already so we need to meet them in the control hub."

As the Martian woman made her way to the metal door to their bedroom, Conner groaned while rubbing his eyes. After a long yawn, he tossed the covers off and rose from bed, half awake and half asleep. Drowsily, he made his way to the door while rubbing his eyes when he heard his name being called.

"Conner!" M'gann said with wide eyes and a red face.

"Hmm?" Turning to face her, Conner still had his eyes somewhat closed as a pair of his jeans smacked him the face. Taking the garment, he looked down then twisted them right side out. "Oh yeah."

"Yeah, avoid a repeat of last time." On her way out through the automatic horizontal sliding metal door, M'gann handed him a white muscle shirt.

"Wasn't my fault the others came over for a base-warming." Zipping up his jeans, the Kryptonian slipped on his shirt then grabbed his boots. "You're the one who wanted Oreo ice cream in the first place."

Away from the bedroom where the married couple slept, three teens busied themselves with separate activities. A black haired teen boy in a black and green track suit sat on a red couch with a sketch pad and mechanical pencil in hand. He was in the middle of working on a drawing of one of his many characters as he waited for things to get going.

Across from him was a green haired and skinned teen boy with a game controller in his hands. A bowl of cereal sat by his side as he played his game on the floor with a prehensile tail grabbing the spoon and shoveling a spoonful of brightly colored cereal in his mouth. His red shorts and matching shirt showed evidence he had yet to change since waking up.

Near the far wall lined with large panel windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling, floated a purple haired, Gothic dressed teen girl who was meditating. Her solid black ensemble was a sharp contrast to the mostly bright colored room with her pants looking to weigh a good ten pounds from the amount of metal chains and studs adorning the legs and pockets with boots looking to weigh another ten pounds from the thick soles and even more metal studs. The only light clothing, without any adornments was her black tank top with purple long sleeved shirt underneath.

The room they occupied was known as the living quarters/control hub. Being the largest of the rooms in what has been dubbed, 'Titans Tower', the area was made for both mission specs and recreation. While not in use, the center of the room was where three large couches sat in a semi-circle with a large ninety inch flat screen TV in front of them, which would double as a computer screen for missions. A good sized kitchenette was in the right corner with a more specified rec area on the left side. Next to it were two concave areas where the Zeta Tubes were stationed. Three metal sliding doors allowed access to the main hallway, elevator, and library. With the area of a house, the living quarters was only a small part of the innards of Titans Tower.

**Recognized, T-6, Arrowette**

Emerging from one of the Zeta Tubes, a blonde teen girl in a white skirt and red quarter sleeve sweater stepped out from the glowing white light of the teleporter and down the single step. Unlike two of the other teens, she was bright eyed and bushy tailed as she hummed along with her MP3 player and made her way to the couch next to the artistic teen boy.

"Good morning, Kyle," the blonde said happily as she took one of her earbuds out.

"Morning, Cissie," he responded without looking up.

"Still not used to these early mornings yet?"

"Nope. And since it's saturday, I should really be in bed until noon."

"Oh come on, you just helped bust a kidnapper last night. I'm still on a high just thinking about it. The way those robots came in, I was like, wham, bam, clang, ptew, boom! Oh I love it!" As she told her story, Cissie began mimicking what she did with her hands and even threw a few punches and kicks in the air. "And then, WHAMMO!"

"We wouldn't have had to fight them if someone hadn't blown their cover," Kyle remarked as he continued to draw.

"Hey, I did my part. I scoped out the area and found Mad Mod first. There just happened to be another robot around the crates I was behind."

"You could have used an EMP to take them out."

"Know how expensive that tech is? League can afford it, Artemis gets it from...who knows where, her secret, and I'm still trying to get the mixture for gel arrows down. If I had an EMP arrow, I would have used it to take them all out. And what are you doodling now?"

Reaching over, Cissie yanked the sketch pad from Kyle's hands and looked over his work of a barbarian duo fighting a large minatour, despite his protests to get it back.

"Why is it guys always draw men loaded with armor but women only get a bikini and sword? And large chests?"

Snatching his work back, Kyle grabbed his pencil from where he dropped it and went back to work. "Learn to draw and you can have your barbarian wearing a thong if you want."

"With a really, really big sword."

Raising an eyebrow, Kyle looked at the way Cissie was grinning and rolled his eyes.

"Could you two can the entandres?" Garfield asked through a mouthful of cereal. "Too early to hear that." A loud blast came from the TV as his character shot down an enemy plane.

"Well," Cissie said as she cycled through her music player, "all I know is I wouldn't be caught dead in a skin tight top and a frilly skirt fighting crime. Not in this life anyway."

Pausing, Kyle looked up and stared into the space before him with the image of the blonde girl next to him in an outfit like she had jut described. "That be rad."

Slapping his arm, Cissie went back to looking for a song to listen to. "Clean your brain."

"Good morning, Titans." Entering the living space, M'gann, as cheerful as always, made her way to stand in front of the large TV.

Taking his que, Garfield shut off his game and went to join Kyle and Cissie on the couch with his cereal bowl in hand. Setting her feet back on the carpeted floor, Raven finished her meditating and took her place on one of the smaller couches. Her eyes turned white as she used her powers to bring a hot cup of tea over to her from the batch already made in the kitchen area.

Joining the group last was Conner who was just tucking in his shirt into his pants with a computer tablet in hand. Taking his place in front of the group, he and M'gann had a quick mental conversation before he started things off.

"Morning," he said with a nod. "Sorry for getting you all here this early in the morning on a saturday, but we need to have another debrief over what happened last night."

Pulling up what he had on his tablet, the team's leader quickly scanned the notes. "Before we get to what happened, I just want to say how you all did a good job out there. Mad Mod is currently being held in federal prison and will be tried here as well as in England for crimes committed there."

"Find out exactly what he wanted those kids for?" Kyle asked.

"Turns out he had been running this operation of his for the last several months. England had been reporting on the disappearances of around fifty children ages eight to thirteen. They were to be added to those we helped rescue from here in the US. After some interrogation, we found he was hypnotizing them to become his own personal sleeper agents to target certain, uh, targets he wanted destroyed."

"Wait, so he was making kiddie suicide bombers?" Cissie asked. "What the heck?"

"That's low," Raven commented flatly as she sipped her tea.

"Cool, we just saved kids, innocent people, and who knows how many cities from destruction. We're bad, totally, totally bad." Kicking his feet up on the coffee table, Garfield leaned back with his hands behind his head and a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Deprogramming didn't take long but you're right, Gar, we did save the day on our first official mission," M'gann told him.

"As what?" Garfield asked with a smile and a raise in his voice.

"As Titans."

"There ya go, sis."

"Moving on," Conner said as he looked his tablet over again. "We just needed to go over the basics of what happened. How did our cover get blown exactly?"

Looking at the blonde archer, Conner waited for her answer as she stood up nervously. When it came to dealing with missions, she and the other young teenagers found the Kryptonian to be intimidating to put it light, the same could be said when they were on their down time.

"Well, um," Cissie began. "I was sneaking around some large crates and saw two of the robot guards coming close to where I was. I ducked behind a crate when I saw Mad Mod and radioed, or mental messaged, or telepired, or whatever you call it when another robot came up from behind me. I didn't have time to get out of the way before it would see me and before I could do anything it was too late."

"I got to her just after the sentry spotted her," Kyle said as he stood. "By then, they knew we were there."

"It wasn't her fault," Garfield said, joining the others. "I should have made sure every one was covered from my position near the entrance for the animals. She was in my line of sight but-"

"We're not placing blame, Gar," M'gann told him. "We just need to know the details as to how our cover went south. We learn from this. We take what went wrong, learn from it, and prevent it from happening the next time we are in the field."

"When we do things like this," Conner took over, "it's not to degrade, punish, or belittle any of you. Our job is to save as many people as we can while making sure we all come home at the end of the day. As leaders, M'gann and I are responsible for you and don't want to have to hear 'Titan down' over the radios or mental link."

There was a slight change in Conner's attitude after mentioning those words no one but M'gann picked up on and she knew why. They had been there when the Justice League put out the word about their fallen team members and when the black ops team repeated that phrase when they lost a few of theirs. Hearing those words, about anyone falling in the field, fills them with fear and is one of the worst things they could ever feel and he certainly did not want to receive that message as leader.

"This is a team. No one works alone. When one falls, the others help them back up. We are stronger together than by ourselves and by that logic, we will never leave a teammate behind. Learn from this experience. Cissie, if you find yourself in a situation like that again, strike first. Take them out before they can spot you, quietly if you can. Garfield, make sure to keep everyone within backup distance and try to keep an eye on them, that goes for all of you."

"Be there for each other," M'gann added. "Make sure your partner's covered and they will cover you."

"Now, is there anything else any of you would want to know?"

"I have a question," Raven said as she held her tea cup in her lap. "How do you actually go about paying for all of this?"

No one said a word as they all looked at the Gothic girl who simply took another sip of her tea. "What? No one's ever wondered about that before?"

Everyone exchanged glances before looking up at the two co-leaders of the team. All had expecting looks on their faces as they waited for an answer.

"Don't look at me," Conner said. "I just went with it."

"Well," M'gann spoke up, "The League has stock in thousands of different, um, things. Nightwing told me about how the Justice Society started out with private equities to fund them, which grew substantially throughout the years. For instance, Wal-Mart's energy bill payments are deposited into an account, which in turn is cycled into League funds without anyone able to trace them. Same thing with Sharper Image, Target, and several other large companies...and those twenty five cent candy machines outside of grocery stores every kid has to buy candy from."

"Aw crap," Kyle said as he sunk in his seat. "You mean the ten bucks I spent in quarters trying to get the entire Godzilla sticker collection went to the League? If I knew that was the case, I would have just asked for the stickers and paid for the ones I wanted instead of coming away with two or three of each."

Each member of the Titans snickered or outright laughed at the teenage Lantern's complaint.

"That reminds me," Pulling up a screen on his tablet, Conner had each of the Titan's name appear below his and M'gann's. "With us mostly working on our own, the League has established us a monthly expense account to be divided up for our use."

"You mean we get paid?" Cissie asked excitedly. "Or in Kyle's case, reimbursed?"

"Not in the traditional sense," Conner explained as Kyle gave Cissie an annoyed look. "As long as you're a part of this or the other teams, you will get paid on a mission to mission basis for supplies and in the field expenditures. If you need specialized gear the league does not have or supply, or need money while on a mission, you can access your account for those purposes."

"From anywhere?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah."

"At any time?" asked Cissie.

"Yeah."

"It's one of the perks," added Garfield.

"So how much did we get from this?" Kyle asked, his drawing and stickers now forgotten.

"For starters, we don't know how to divide what has been decided for us," Conner explained. "Right now, we decided to give two hundred to each of you per mission until the end of the month. Since the tower runs on geothermic energy and we don't have bills like that, we will mostly be focused on what we need for missions. At the end of the month, we'll have a better understanding of how much you'll receive. In the meantime, give us a list of what you need and we'll take care of-"

Before Conner could finish explaining the expense account, the image of Batman appeared on the large flat screen TV behind him. "Calling all available League, black ops, and Titans, this is a League emergency. Report to Watchtower at once."

April 17

Watchtower

08:42 UTC

High above the Earth and in her orbit, the space station known for housing the Justice League was full of most of the heroes making up all three teams. Only a few were not present as they were on missions or were off world. Gathered in the mission hub of the station, all present waited for any others who were running late with the main three standing before all of them.

Since the attack by Darkseid's forces around a year ago, Watchtower has gone through a major overhaul to accommodate so many heroes and guard against as many threats as Batman could anticipate, needless to say, it was a pretty long list. Everything was reinforced with the sensors made even more sophisticated to detect even the smallest of space junk or incoming missile. They still utilized the Boom Tube blocker and while not a weapon, they also developed an EMP generator to scramble any and all missiles. With the last of the heroes, Flash, arriving around five minutes ago, the main three decided now was the best time to start the emergency meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the League, black ops team, and Titans," Batman began, "at around thirteen hundred hours on April fifteenth, we received a radio silence from Sigma team who were on a mission in South America. Both Blue Devil and Kid Devil were investigating a suspected cult in the jungles of Brazil and failed to report in at the designated time period. It was not until early this morning when we finally got word from Blue Devil on what happened and received word Kid Devil was down."

At the news, everyone began muttering and wanting to know what happened.

"After we retrieved Blue Devil from Brazil, we were informed the members of the cult they were investigating were behind Kid Devil's murder. He was sacrificed to their God, which we are still trying to get information on once Blue Devil wakes up from his medically induced coma. We know nothing more at this time."

"Excuse me, Batman," Kaldur interrupted, "but why were they not declared overdue after twelve hours of radio silence?"

"They were," The Dark Knight answered. "But we had no way of knowing where they were. We had launched a quiet retrieval squad consisting of Black Canary, Rocket, Cyborg, and both of the Hawks, but they were no where to be found. All tracking devices were later to be found destroyed or discarded."

"Then where were they found?" Hal Jordan asked.

"Blue Devil was found at the bottom of a shallow cliff in the Amazon river nearly thirty miles from where their last location was documented. Kid Devil was found three miles from him."

"At this time," Wonder Woman said, "we ask you all to please offer a moment of silence for Edward Alan Bloomberg, Kid Devil. He was only with us for a few months but has shown he was more than capable of being a viable team member, especially to the black ops team."

"If you have a religion or spiritual deity, please do not hesitate to pray for him," Superman finished.

As one, every member of the three teams bowed their heads in a silent vigil to their though they knew him for only a short time, they all felt as if a brother had passed. Those making up the Titans couldn't help but remember what M'gann and Conner told them before arriving at the Watchtower.

"Thank you," Superman said. "Eddie's remembrance and funeral will be held tomorrow in his home town as well as in the Watchtower memorial garden. Everyone is more than welcome to attend. As for the ones responsible for this, we will fully investigate the area thoroughly and bring this cult down."

"Superman," Kaldur said. "If I may, would you please leave this to the black ops team as Eddie was one of us?"

"This will be a joint investigation," Batman stated. "When Blue Devil wakes up and tells us all he knows, we will launch an immediate strike to bring them down. Just do not take this personally."

"Thank you, Batman," Kaldur nodded. "We will wait for your word."

"On another note, there was a young woman, a Lilith Clay, found with Blue Devil. It was clear she had gone through intense trauma but helped patch up is wounds while keeping him safe. She is also in the infirmary and will need to be questioned as to what has happened. As of now, she is severely dehydrated and too weak to tell us anything. Kaldur, you and Martian Manhunter will be the first to speak with her on what happened when the time comes."

Looking the teams over, the Dark Knight saw all were still quiet and wanted nothing but to go after the ones responsible for the tragedy.

"You are all dismissed until further notice," Batman told those in the assembly area. "All future missions involving this cult will be handled by the League until we fully know who we are dealing with. Stay on alert for new details in the meantime."

As the large group began to depart after expressing their condolences to the black ops team, only a few chose to stay behind. Among them were a few of the Black ops members, League members, and the Titans.

"Good to see you guys again," Dick, in his civilian clothing said as he met up with the leaders of the Titans. "Seems like it's been longer than two months since you started up."

"Tell me about it," M'gann said. "New city, new team, new roles, it all seems to be too much at times but we're making our own path."

"Glad to hear it. Leadership isn't easy. For everything it gives, it takes twice as much away if you let it."

"Which is why Conner and I are taking this new team as seriously as possible. We already stressed to them about hearing a team member's down."

"Yeah. Too bad for Eddie. I only worked with him two, maybe three times since he's been here. I can't imagine what Blue Devil's going to think when he wakes up."

"You mean he doesn't now?" M'gann asked.

"I don't think so. They couldn't get much out of him when they found him and he was severely injured. Needless to say, this was the last thing we ever expected when he radioed in."

"Do they know how many there were?"

"No, but best guess would be a lot." Looking over the Martian woman's shoulder, Dick saw Tim sulking with one of the newer recruits, Francisco Ramon, better known as Vibe. "Tim and Francisco were close with Eddie. They were in the middle of forming a trio like Kaldur, Wally and myself. Hard enough being friends with a fallen teammate, even harder when they were best friends. I expect to find them in the new grotto where we have the holograms of our fallen. Wish the new base under Mount Justice or any of our bases didn't have a need for one of those."

"I wish the same. We were suggested to run a failsafe mission with our team to get to know how they would react in a situation like that. I still have my doubts about doing it but, hearing how Tim and Francisco are taking it..."

"We got the same message. After this, I don't think it would be a good idea either."

As Dick and M'gann continued speaking, Conner and Kaldur stood by the entrance to the Zeta Tubes with Wolf.

"My thanks for letting Wolf assist us on our mission, Conner," Kaldur said. "He was more than helpful in locating Clayface."

"Had an easier time taking him down?" Conner asked as he scratched behind the white animal's ears.

"Much easier than our first time facing him. He may have fooled us visually, but Wolf knew his scent all to well. As for Sphere, Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl are still on their mission in Alaska involving Eco terrorists and the pipeline."

"It's okay. As long as you need Wolf, Sphere, or any of us, we'll always be there."

"And I appreciate that, my friend."

"Hey, Conner." Coming up to the Kryptonian, Cissie waived at Kaldur before continuing. "Um, if you don't need us right now, would you mind if I go back home for the time being? I gotta get back to my dad and continue working on my bow."

"Sure, go head," Conner told her. "But keep your communicator with you just in case."

"Got it. Don't want a repeat like last time." Turning on her heal, Cissie quickly made her way to the first in a line of four Zeta Tubes and took it back home.

"So how is the new team working out?" Kaldur asked.

"Fine, I guess." With a pat to Wolf's side, the powerhouse of the younger teams stood back up. "It's harder than how you made it look. We handle their training for missions but the others train them one on one."

"How so?"

"Artemis trains Cissie exclusively when they're together on her downtime or she comes over. Hal and John work with Kyle, Zatanna works with Raven, and M'gann and I work with Garfield. How we have it set up is, they train them in how to use their abilities better while we train them to work as a team."

"It sounds as if you have adjusted to your new role quite nicely."

"It's a learning curve, but we're managing."

"Oh, and before I forget," Kaldur said as he took a few steps towards the Zeta Tubes. "While on a routine space walk, a crew from the ISS identified an alien ship on the dark side of the moon. All details seem to identify it as the ship of the alien you encountered in the Hal of Justice when you and the others were trapped inside."

"You mean that thing's been floating there all this time?"

"Seems like it. No sensors could pick it up and it was only by luck they saw it. John Stewards and Captain Atom were sent out to investigate it. Word has it they have finally found a way in and there seems to be no life forms on board."

"Well his robot blew itself up and The Reach took the alien. Just as long as they're no where near Earth, I don't care."

"Hey, Kaldur." M'gann said as she joined the two, to which the Atlantian greeted her back before she turned to her husband. "Conner, I told Dick we would be back for the memorial ceremony tomorrow for Eddie but we need to get back to the tower for when Uncle J'onn gets back from Mars."

"And how is Carter?" Kaldur asked.

"He's doing great. It looks like he's able to take on a human form easier now and he's changing his skin to match whoever's holding him or if he wants to go with them."

"No ill side effects?"

"Kaldur," Conner stepped in. "I know everyone's questioning how this happened, but we're taking it as a miracle of sorts."

"Miracle?"

"Sounds better than 'anomaly' like Batman put it," Conner said with an edge in his voice.

"I am still with the others on this, I am afraid. I am happy for you two, but two different species having an offspring does warrant an explanation."

"Kaldur, please?" M'gann asked.

Ever since the rest of their friends and those in the League were told about M'gann's pregnancy, there were questions galore being directed at the couple. Some were simple like, 'How far along are you?' or 'When are you due?'. But when it came to a few others, harder questions were asked, most by Batman. What should have been a happy time for the expecting parents felt more like an inquisition at times. Everyone was divided on what they thought when it came to this hugely unexpected event that was seen as either a blessing or a curse, and was soon better left unsaid as M'gann became upset and Conner would get temperamental to say the least.

With a nod, the Atlantian put a stop to his concerns. "I apologize. It is just with everything we have all been through, it is better to be safe than sorry."

"And we understand, but, can we just have this one without everyone blowing it out of proportion?"

"Of course, M'gann. However, I must ask, what if your child becomes a target? What will you do then?"

Looking at the dark skinned hero with a challenging glare, Conner gave him his answer. "Anything we have to."

**AN: Hope everyone enjoyed the new chap, now here are the first bios:**

**Superboy-Conner Kent – Titans Leader**

**Since leaving Cadmus where he was created to be a living weapon, Conner has made his own place in the world and is not simply the clone of Superman. During the team's first year, he has learned to work on a team, not to rely solely on his strength, and has proven himself to be a vital addition to the team. He has grown to control his anger better and has accepted his inability to never age, he still looks to be in his late teens or early twenties. He has trained several of the newer recruits and was instrumental in saving the world from the Reach's endgame with his pet, Wolf. He has received a power upgrade after his defeat at the hands of the augmented Genomorph, Doomsday, and is now capable of flight, greater strength, and a psychic ability known as TTK or Tactile Telekinesis, though he still uses the living machine Sphere from time to time to not have her grow depressed from not needing her to fly. Now with his wife, M'gann, he leads a new team in Jump City, his place now carved out in the world.**

**Mrs. Martian-M'gann Kent – Titans Co-Leader**

**After coming to Earth, M'gann M'orzz patiently waited for the day when she could be like her uncle and was inducted onto the black ops team. There she learned to better use her powers and strove to make friends like the girl she watched on TV she immolated. As the team's psychic, she keeps them in constant contact via mind link, which has become a staple in their operations. She has shown a more viscous side of herself and had no problem ripping information out of the heads of the enemy, leaving them comatose. Seeing what she actually doing, she has since stopped, but the temptation to repeat her actions is still there. During the war with Darkseid, M'gann strove to not have others make similar mistakes she had and tries to live a life without regrets. Along with her husband, Conner, she co-leads the Titans in which her adopted brother, Garfield, is a part of while also raising a Kryptonian/Martian hybrid son.**

**Beast Boy-Garfield Logan**

**After joining the team, Garfield has been slowly learning the ins and out of being a hero. Looking up to both M'gann and Conner, who have trains him in stealth and hand to hand fighting, he strives to be the best he can be and make his place on the team. He has learned to shapeshift into virtually any animal with ease except for prehistoric beasts, which take slightly longer due to him not having contact with them. Garfield was part of the squad sent to battle Klarion and save a young girl named Raven where he dispatched the witch boy's familier, Teekl, and sent him back to his own dimension. As part of the newly formed Titans, Garfield is the most seasoned of the group but still has much to learn.**

**Raven-Rachel Roth**

**Not much is known of Rachel, who prefers to go by Raven's, past except she has been homeless for a few years and moving from place to place. For being so young, she is extremely powerful in majicks. Once she taps into her true power, through a quick incantation, she is able to give Zatanna a run for her money. Because of this, Klarion the Witch Boy wanted to use her as a battery to increase his power but was defeated before he could fully drain her. When it came time to form a new team, Garfield was the first to vouch for her and she was made the second to join the Titans. Unlike most girls her age, Rachel is quiet and meditates to keep a tight hold on her emotions, though she has never told anyone why. She still has much to learn, especially when it comes to dealing with others since her empath power allows her to feel the mood of those nearby, which is mostly Garfield's 'puppy crush' feelings when she's around him.**

**Lantern-Kyle Rayner**

**Young Kyle Rayner was chosen to be a Green Lantern shortly after the events of Darkseid's invasion. According to him, he was trying to help others and his father when the ring came to him. It's still a question of how someone that young could be granted that much power by both Hal and John, two of Earth's current Green Lanterns. While being trained to serve the Green Lantern Corps, again by Hal and John as Guy is not allowed anywhere near him, it was thought being on a team of young heroes his age would better help him in working with others. Because of his artistic ability, his constructs are the most detailed of the other three Lanterns and the most unorthodox as he resorts to everything from cartoons, anime, and video games for construct ideas.**

**Arrowette-Cissie King-Jones**

**Years ago, Cissie witnessed her father being saved by two masked archer vigilantes. The younger female inspired her to become a crime fighter and she has worked hard at that goal ever since. As Arrowette, Cissie patrolled her city but was too inexperienced to actually do any good. That all changed when Green Arrow and Artemis investigated reports of another archer and saw the girl's potential. Now as part of the Titans, Cissie is getting all the training she needs from the world's greatest heroes with Artemis training her specifically to fill her shoes as the in a line of bow wielding vigilantes.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Still introducing characters so no action until the next episode, though this entire first part just sets up the newbies and overall problem. Sorry if this and the next chap seem slow but it will get there.**

**Combat Engineer – Thanks.**

**Gordhanx – More of the Titans will be seen later so I hope you enjoy more of how they interact when the story gets there. And by the time of this chap, Eddie's funeral has been held but I wanted to mention the League doing that, so glad you liked it. And also, M'gann's not pregnant but more on that next episode.**

**DarkMgc – Nope, M'gann's not pregnant and wee baby Carter will be appearing next episode.**

**GoddessofCongeniality – Thanks for that, made my day. For your questions, I haven't decided if the Outlaws (all of them) may appear or not. As for Damian Wayne…maybe you should read this chap. You might be pleased. **

**Ben A – Lilith Clay was in the comics and had precognitive powers. I thought she would be a god fit for what I have in store. As for Magic or Majicks, I read somewhere (most likely a fantasy book) that magic is the art illusion while majick as actual magic in the use of powers and it's stuck with me ever since. Yes, Supermartian has been born and will be talked about next episode. As for a time frame, I know I've posted this as one year after Darkseid, but I messed up. This is around fourteen to fifteen months after Darkness Falls.**

**Zeta Marz – Thanks. I can neither confirm nor deny BB's dark side coming out. But there is the fact Queen Bee hasn't answered for what she did to his mom…**

**Riley 000 – I was thinking of having the power rings simply reflect the user's imagination so it would be a bit of both. That's why I made Kyle a teen cause the adults used more down to earth constructs for the lack of better terms. As for Conner's TTK you asked about in another story, it will be making an appearance in this one and will be similar in nature.**

**The Darkman – Oh yeah, I had this planned out in my head and have written plenty of notes on what I have planned so I hope you enjoy the upcoming twists and turns. I really don't follow futball but I do follow football. I've only seen one or two games, including that shootout between Chili and Brazil that was nuts. I'm just not really a soccer fan.**

**Eric – Glad you liked the references and little jokes from the comics and show. And I had to add that part about Guy with the way Hal and John responded in season one about him joining the League. The other members of the Light will be coming up next chapter so all your questions will be answered in due time, and boy will they be answered. Also, wee baby Carter was just visiting Mars with John for a bit. He's back home and will be make his intro next episode.**

**Okay, that's it, from now on; I will address Carter as 'Wee Baby Carter'. It's an Archer thing. On with the story…**

3.

Palto Alto

April 22

09:56 UTC

"Too early, too, too early."

Laying on his back on the floor, the former Kid Flash, Wally West, had his daughter on his stomach for a bounce ride. It wasn't the fact it was before seven when he woke up to Isis crying, it wasn't the need to change and feed her, and it wasn't the need to literally run to the grocery store for more boxes of her special food he was complaining about, it was just his wife, Artemis, was right yet again. Never bounce a two year old so soon after she's eaten, the results will be messy.

"How in the world can you be my daughter and spit up all your oatmeal...on my face?"

Setting his daughter down, the red head young man used his shirt to wipe off what regurgitated oats he could and went to clean up completely in the kitchen. Tossing his shirt in the laundry basket by the laundry room door, he quickly made use of the hand soap and was soon smelling of 'lemon sunrise' instead of 'raisin oats'.

"Why is it you never spit up on mommy and always spit up on me?"

"Because I'm her favorite, that's why." Exiting the hallway in a pair of scrubs, Artemis tied her long, blonde hair in her usual pony tail then picked her daughter up who called for her.

"No fair," Wally playfully moaned. "She'll come around, she has me all day while you go to work."

"Only because Sandra called in sick. I'll be taking her place at the front desk for Doctor-"

"Zeaus?"

"No, fool. Doctor Zeals. His office is shorthanded this week from that throat thing that's been going around."

"Just as long as you don't bring it home."

"Whatever. What time do you go in tomorrow?"

"Dale want's me there around ten so we can work on the AC units with two other volunteers. So wish it was our date night."

"Soon enough, Speed stick. Mom's looking forward to spending the night with our little archer."

"You mean speedster, right?"

"Only on how she eats." After smoothing her daughter's strawberry blonde hair, Artemis kissed her on the forehead. "Mama will be back later, okay? Be good for daddy."

"Kay," the toddler replied. "Love you mom."

"Love you too, Irey."

Taking his daughter, Wally saw his wife to the door and waived as she drove off. He then turned to Isis and sighed. "Am I the only one who calls you Isis anymore? Why is it every word Dick comes up with sticks?"

Wayne Manor

April 22

11:27 UTC

In another typical day at Wayne Manor, things were going as normal as could be. The large mansion overlooked the city of Gotham like an ever seeing eye on the lookout for any disturbance whatsoever. Unknown to the citizens of the city who only saw the tall trees and well-trimmed grass of the estate, things were not what they seemed, especially when it came to the underground structure no one but a handful of people have ever seen with their own eyes.

Within the Batcave, The Lord of the Manor, Bruce Wayne, watched as a young boy ran an obstacle course designed to test one's acrobatic abilities. It was a course designed by the first Robin, Dick Grayson, and was the gold standard by which all of Batman's partners were judged by.

Truth be told, Bruce had not expected the boy to be as skilled as he was. Every move he made was fluid and transitioned into the next flawlessly. There were times Bruce even thought the kid was Dick by the way he moved until he saw the youth flip from one bar to another with his eyes closed when he saw himself when he was younger. There was no obstacle too hard for the boy who seemed to fly through the air and land with such grace, Bruce himself couldn't believe it was possible for someone so young. Then again, the child was trained by The League of Shadows since birth. As if that were not enough, there were the genetics to be considered as the boy was the son of Bruce Wayne, the Batman.

"Very good," Bruce said as the boy walked toward him.

"Good? That was perfect." Standing tall, as tall as a prepubescent boy could stand, the splitting image of Bruce Wayne eyed the older man with something reminiscent of the infamous 'Bat Glare'.

"You missed sliding down the pole and using the trampoline to reach the trapeze to swing across the chasm."

"It was unnecessary. After the third round of rotating overhead bars, I could use my momentum to bypass the chasm."

"That is not the point of this exercise. The point was to test you on your endurance and stamina as well as you athletic ability, not to see if you can bypass obstacles."

"The League has honed me to my peak form. I am more than capable of beating whatever tests you throw my way and don't need to use all of my skills."

"You sure about that?" Walking back over to the massive system known as the Batcomputer, Bruce typed in a few keystrokes with one hand. "Would you like to test that theory?"

"Mother said you would be unable to believe I can do anything you can, or better," the kid said with an air of superiority. "The League of Shadows does not train failures, they train only-"

"Has your mother told you how many Shadows I have put a stop to? Or how many my colleagues have foiled?"

The boy's eyes narrowed at the remark.

"Talia may have had you trained to be in peak physical form for your age, but I still have my doubts."

"You just saw me make a mockery of your last training area. What else is there?"

With a grin, Bruce pressed a few more buttons, causing the entire training area to change as more obstacles were added and the length doubled. To the average, everyday person, one look would have made them give up and run away in fear. To the boy, he only did a double take as Bruce actually smirked at his reaction.

"Damian, you may have passed the first stage of the first Robin's training course, but let's see how well you do on the second stage."

Upstairs in the mansion itself, the faithful butler to Bruce Wayne went about preparing lunch. It was nothing major, roasted rabbit with a cream sauce and scalloped potatoes with a fresh batch of croissants. The entire downstairs was filled with the smell, which enticed anyone to drool without a second thought.

As Alfred exited the kitchen to place the food on the table, a silent presence made their way across the second floor railing and flipped over to hang upside down and spy on the older man. Predatory eyes recorded every move he made and waited for him to make his way back into the kitchen. Once the presence saw the butler disappear around the corner, they dropped silently to the ground and swiftly made their way into the dining area.

Without making a sound, the figure grabbed a fork and stuck it in each plate of food. Raising the utensil to their face, they smelt then lightly tasted what was on each plate. The next was the elaborately decorated basket of bread where they tested each croissant followed by the butter and pitcher of water.

"Excuse me, Miss Cain," Alfred interrupted as he reentered the dining room with a thin plate of apple butter. "By now, you must see I am not attempting to poison Master Damian," he then switched to a mumble as he approached the table, "no matter how much worse he is than the bloody Queen of England."

After placing the butter down, he looked the girl over he referred to as Miss Cain who was put in charge of Damian's safety by the League of Shadows. She was a striking young Asian woman with a very toned, athletic body. Long black hair cascaded down her back and was done in a simple loose braid. But the characteristic that stood out most about her, besides her large, dark brown eyes, was a scar running down from her lip to her throat. It was all that was left from an injury, which left her a mute.

"Now, lunch is just about ready to be served officially as soon as I call master Bruce and his son up here. Of course, as Master Damian's body guard, you are more than welcome to sit beside him but rest assured, we, and especially I, will never try to harm anyone in this house unless they are here for less than noble purposes."

Looking a little embarrassed and unsure at the same time, the teenage Miss Cain stood at attention and clasped her hands behind her back before bowing.

"Now, since you are here first, please help yourself to the salad in the place of your choosing. Should the others come up here after I call them, they will just have to eat their lunch cold while we enjoy it fresh from the oven."

Looking her over again, Alfred let out a sigh. "And I still wish you would reconsider wearing the other clothing we have acquired for your use instead of the black sweatpants and tank top."

To this, the teen girl simply shrugged.

Watchtower

April 22

17:17 UTC

Coming out of one of the medical rooms within the space station, Martian Manhunter, in his John disguise, finished trying to speak to Lilith. The Brazilian woman still showed signs of weakness from what she had been through and was slow in showing trust to anyone despite how they came across to her. Those watching over her kept Batman in constant contact and recorded what she did in her room as well as whatever she should say.

"How was it this time?" Kaldur asked as he neared the room with a tray of food for the woman.

"Kaldur," John said as he lowered his hand from the back of his neck. "Miss Clay still has some reservations on speaking to us about all she has went through. From what I have picked up, without entering her mind, she may have been mentally abused by those who have captured her. She has asked about Blue Devil, so hopefully she trusts at least one person."

"Good. I will attempt to work with her as well. If you can, check on Blue Devil first thing in the morning when you arrive and notify me. Doctor Palmer will begin to bring him out of his coma and I would like the opportunity to speak with him about Eddie."

"Will do, Kaldur. I will contact you once he is fully awake and able to communicate."

As the disguised Martian left, the Atlantean straitened himself up and rounded the corner into Lilith's room. Standing in the doorway, Kaldur watched as she fiddled with her hospital gown in an attempt to close the back when she saw him and grew stiff from nervousness.

"Evening." Slowly entering the room, Kaldur placed the food tray on a table and rolled it over towards the bed. The entire time, Lilith watched his every movement as he maneuvered the table to where it was in front of her with the food tray within easy reach.

"I have asked our chef to prepare something other than oatmeal for you tonight. Though, I am afraid the Jello is mandatory." Backing up slowly, Kaldur pulled up a nearby chair and sat down close enough to get her anything she may need but far enough away as to not seem he was smothering her.

Looking down at the blue plastic tray, Lilith's eyes ran over the slices of ham, scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy, serving of corn, and the large square of cornbread beside the water bottle and plastic silverware. She immediately forwent the silverware and grabbed the ham with her hands. If the way she stuffed her mouth was not evident she was hungry, the noises she made were. She even dug her fingers into the potatoes and shoveled them into her mouth shortly after.

Reaching out, the hungry woman grabbed the bottle water and struggled with opening it. Snapping back to his senses, as he had never seen anyone, including Wally, eat like that, Kaldur stood and slowly made his way over to her. Growing still with her eyes locked on the dark skinned Atlantian, she watched as he carefully reached out and motioned for the bottle she was having trouble opening.

"It is okay. Let me help." A moment later, Lilith carefully handed him the bottle and watched him open it. Once it was back in her possession, she drank nearly half of its contents and stopped only because she began to choke.

"Easy. You still need to be careful on how quickly you eat and drink." Taking a step back, Kaldur gave her room to feel comfortable and watched as she began eating with her hands again.

"Lilith, if you do not mind, could you tell me about what you went through?"

The woman looked up at him but continued to eat.

"The ones who saved you, Blue Devil, Kid Devil, they...they were my friends. Kid Devil, Eddie, he...he was a member of the team of young heroes I am in command of. His loss has been hard for us to endure, as with any we may suffer. I just want to know what happened. What did you go through to make them risk and give a life to save?"

After a few moments of silence, Kaldur let out a sigh. "Lilith, please. Eddie...he was not with the team, my team for long and yet, we came to treat him as a brother. I allowed him to accompany his mentor on a two person mission to investigate missing people in Brazil. It was my responsibility to look out for him and make sure he was prepared for whatever may happen to him. Any information you have will be most helpful and will go to aid us in bringing his murderers to justice."

Lilith only stared down at the left over food on her tray, which was only crumbs by this point, and let her long hair cover most of her face.

"I understand if you wish not to speak about past events. But please, if you remember anything, I would like to be among the first to know." After a moment, the black ops leader let out a breath and reached out to move the table and empty tray away when he heard the slightest squeak from the woman. "Excuse me?"

"I...I..."

Moving the tray away, Kaldur took its place and moved to the side of the bed. He tried to get a better look at her but could not, due to her hair concealing her face. At first, it appeared as if she was a brunette, but after a thorough washing to get the caked n dirt off, her hair came out as dirty blonde. Slowly, he reached out and moved the right side strands away to expose her dark skinned features. "Lilith?"

"I...it's useless." Her voice was weak and somewhat shaky.

"What is useless?"

"Everything."

With a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Kaldur bent down slightly to get to eye level with her. "What do you mean by that?"

Still staring straight ahead, Lilith did not move in the slightest. Unknown to Kaldur, a long string of images flashed before her eyes without her ever showing signs of what she experienced. "Life. Once he arrives...all will be consumed. And he will reign supreme."

"Who is he?"

Moving her eyes to look at him, but not her head, Lilith gave him her answer. "Death."

Metropolis Airport

April 22

20:56 UTC

In one of the country's busiest hubs, planes went on about their daily routines as normal as a small aircraft approached one of the private tarmacs. As the aerial craft approached its final run, the pilot switched its lights off before it began its decent. Nothing could be seen in the near pitch black night sky with none of the ground based lights able to penetrate the darkness.

"This is tower control to unknown craft, unknown craft, do you copy? Over."

Within one of the large towers responsible for directing all aircraft coming and going from the airport, several men were trying to get a reading on the small plane entering their airspace.

"Again, this is tower control to unknown aircraft, why are you not answering our hails and have turned your lights off?"

Nothing came over their radios as they opened all channels to speak to the new pilot. "You are not authorized to land here and all tarmacs are closed to you."

"They're still not answering," another of the traffic controllers said.

"This is insane," a third one said. "No lights, no hails, no aircraft identity. Who is thi-"

Before he could finish, a large fireball erupted on the landing strip before them. The darkened area lit up as pieces of the plane tumbled across the ground. Everyone in the tower could only look on as a tragedy unfolded before them. Emergency vehicles responded rapidly to where the plane crashed with men and women quickly locking down the area.

No one could have survived that ill-fated landing.


	5. Chapter 5

**DarkMgc – Thanks. I try to learn with every story I write.**

**Gordhanx – I used both Damion and Cassandra in Darkness Falls when Bart goes into the future. This time I get to develop them and use them more.**

**Eric the Looney – Dude, the questions you have…spoilers. But regarding Carter, I chose the name to keep the male Kryptonians initials CK, although I nearly went for CJ, Conner junior. Then after going over both, I decided on Carter in the end. So that's how wee baby Carter got his name.**

**PinkRedRose – I had to make a choice and by going this way, his death makes it personal for the black ops team to bring them into the story more. But don't worry, this story's only getting started and has a ways to go, so…(spoilers)**

**Ben A – Artemis works the front desk at a doctor's office and Wally is involved an electrical tech. In the comics, Cassandra Cain was a mute for a time because she didn't learn to read or speak (I think). I added the scar to show how dedicated she is at what she does and how much of a fighter she is. As for the rest of your questions, you'll just have to keep reading. Oh, and I'm actually waiting for the sequel Bears on a Boat.**

**Guest – Raven's empathy is magic based as with all her powers (lineage). Only he had trouble controlling her powers in Darkness Falls, which is why she is now on the Titan team.**

**Missvisableninja – My bad, I'm not around babies much but thought they could do simple sentences like that.**

4.

Quarc

April 24

13:42 UTC

Amid a torrent of Lex Corp scientists, sophisticated machinery, and armed guards, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, and Ra's Al Ghul stood along a wall in front of a glowing pool of green liquid. Known as a Lazarus Pit, the liquid substance held the power of rejuvenation, granting anyone who stepped foot in it to be healed and gain a sense of immortality for a price. What that was, only Ra's knew and he was not telling anyone.

Extra lights had to be brought in with generators so the people occupying the underground chamber could carry on about their business and were the last of the equipment to go. No one was careful to not disturb the surrounding pillars or damage the intricately carved walls that were hundreds if not thousands of years old while a demolition team was busy wiring explosives every few yards.

"Such a shame this pit is not like yours, Ra's," Lex said as he monitored the men hard at work. "Another pit would have been beneficial to us."

"I agree, Luthor," Ra's responded with his hands clasped behind his back, not that you could see them as his green and yellow embroidered cloak covered all but his head. "If it were not for the Kryptonite saturating the water, it would have been worth keeping."

"Men, always wanting more when they have enough." Standing to the right of the two men, Queen Bee, in her usual black and gold attire, spoke down upon the masculine sex. "If you are through with this pathetic country, I would not mind leaving as soon as possible."

"Patience, my dear," Lex told her. "The final details need to be looked over before we continue. After all, the League have no reason to suspect we are still active in a very discreet way and if we do not cover our tracks properly, they will undoubtedly find us out before we have a chance to finish what we started so long ago."

"I'm just surprised you are so willing to go along with this," Ra's said. "Given how regular mortals go about praying for their most cherished possession like they do has me curious as to why you would be so willing to surrender yours."

"It's called self-worth Ra's. I know what I am worth and what I want is worth so with that in mind, I may as well see to it I get a proper return for my investment. Klarion and Savage had what every man wants to obtain but has no idea what to do with. With them and Manta out of the way, we can now get to the much larger picture."

"Then what of Mister Corbin?"

"I have my plans for him. With Mercy preoccupied with both software and hardware modifications, Mister Corbin will be taking her place as not al of us can depend on a rejuvenating pool or bend others to our will. I have paid both the Shadows and Queen Bee handsomely for both his services and various resources. All I ask is for you both to be ready for when the time comes. After that, the world will literally be ours for the taking."

"And reshaping," added Queen Bee.

"Precisely," grinned Lex. "It will finally see the Light and be unhindered."

Happy Harbor - Beneath Mount Justice

April 25

13:34 UTC

"Good, keep it up. Remember, set your rhythm and do not hesitate. Keep them off balance as you attack and do not let up."

Watching from a shielded observation room, Barbra Gordon sat in her wheelchair and studied the various recruits as they participated in their training. Since the invasion of Gotham by other worldly forces bent on enslaving the human race, the second one in less than a year, she has been confined to the traveling metal seat and would be for the rest of her life. There were days where she thought about what she could have done differently to not have ended up in the situation she was currently in and maybe she would be better off not being on a team of heroes as she could do little more than root from the sidelines and monitor active field members.

Those thoughts were not only pushed, but banished from her mind as she remembered who she was. She could do a lot more than sit in a seat and perform monitor duty. She had years of experience to pass on to the next generation of young heroes. She could access electrical systems for squads in the field and monitor their vitals or get them backup if need be. She could even teach them how to hack into databases and design programs for them to use.

"Those playing defense, make the others play into your game. Break their rhythm and have them conform to yours to take the advantage."

As Barbra continued to monitor the younger crowd train, the door behind her slid open to allow Kara Zor-El and Cassandra Sandsmark entry. Both girls snuck up behind the redhead who was busy going over the computer panel before her to read the amount of power being used within the training area. It was only one of three large terminals within the room with several large screens mounted on the walls above them.

Being extra quiet, the two girls floated several inches off the floor with their breaths held. Each carried something for the unsuspecting woman and wanted to be able to get the drop on the former Batgirl. Their efforts were cut off as the female protégé of Batman knew they were there the entire time.

"Afternoon, Kara, Cassie," Barbra said with a grin.

Slumping, Kara let out a sigh as Cassie set foot on the metal floor and groaned.

"Aww, how did you know?" Cassie asked.

"Old habits." Using the drive stick on the armrest of her chair, Barbra turned to face the two and saw a small cake in Cassie's hands. Kara held a bottle of ginger ale and three plastic champagne glasses. "What's this for?"

"Well," Cassie began, "it has been five years since a certain pointy eared woman took the team by storm and showed a girl doesn't need super powers to hang with the guys."

"And I'm just trying to learn to learn how to celebrate things so I asked Cassie if I can join her," Kara added. "She said yes."

Barbra could not help but grin at the Kryptonian. "Thank you Kara, I appreciate it."

Handing her one of the plastic glasses, Kara went about pouring the drink as Cassie cut the small cake she held. The three soon had a slice and something to drink as the demi-Amazon raised her glass.

"Here's to the girl turned woman whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard wherever she goes," Cassie quipped as she raised her glass.

"Whatever that means," Kara agreed as she rose her drink and Barbra laughed. "And thanks for helping me with Earth customs."

"No problem, Kara," Barbra said. "And thank you for this, it means a lot."

"Well this is just a preliminary to tonight," Cassie said with a mouthful of cake. "We have reservations at that Japanese restaurant where they make the food in front of you. Girls only."

"Ohh, girls only. Does that mean some moronic super villain's going to try something stupid while we try to have a good time?"

"We'll see."

"Wait, does that happen often?" Kara asked. "Because when Kori and I were exploring the world, we really didn't run into problems like that."

"Not counting the mudslide in Venezuela? Or the avalanche in the Andes? Or the earthquake in Tokyo?" Barbra asked.

"No, no, not really."

"It's kind of expected of us to get into a scrap with a bad guy," Cassie explained. "Like tradition."

Spearing a bite of her cake piece, Kara nodded. "Then I'll look forward to it." She then ate the pastry as the others did the same.

Daily Planet

April 25

18:42 UTC

"Pick your feet up, Jimmy. We got a deadline to meet." Rushing through the crowded floor of the Daily Planet's makeshift news room, Lois Lane-Kent directed traffic as she and her photographic partner, Jimmy Olsen, hurried to get the story they finished covering to the printer for tomorrow's edition. "I need you to get the best shots to Perry and then down to layout. They're waiting for your graphics to get this thing out by tomorrow morning."

"On it Mrs. Kent." Grabbing the jump drive from his computer, the young red headed man palmed the device with his best follow-up shots of the incident at Metropolis Airfield a few days ago.

After an investigation by the local police and federal agents, it was discovered the small aircraft originated from South America and was documented as carrying foreign dignitaries. It was a fact made stranger by the type of craft and no record of any dignitaries leaving any country in South America. Nothing was found luggage wise and there were no traces of any bodies whatsoever. The only clue they had found was what looked like blood packs smeared along the ground where the plane crashed. Testing proved it was not human.

No sooner had Jimmy left the room when a hand caught the door before it could close. Entering the news room was Conner Kent who was looking for Lois above the heads of the large group of people. It took some time for the young hero to spot her sitting at a foldaway desk and make his way over to her through the crowded room.

"Hey, Lois." Taping the reporter on the shoulder, Conner drew her attention away from her computer.

"Oh, hey Smallville Numero Dos. What'cha doing here at the center of construction avenue?" Turning back to her computer, Lois finished up her email she was in the middle of typing. She never removed the pen from her mouth as she tied her black hair in a messy ponytail and the younger version of her husband went on.

"I just wanted to know where Clark was. I needed to ask him something, uh, not for the public."

Hitting send, Lois, grabbed a mug of coffee on her desk/folding table and took a sip. "Well, if you want to talk with him in private, it's best if you go to the west side of the building where they're still working on the conference rooms. The construction crews left for the day a few minutes ago but they already have the lights working. I'll call his cell and tell him you're here. He's been in Perry's office long enough."

"Thanks. I'll be waiting for him."

"Nuh, uh, need news on my nephew first. How's he doing?"

"Good. J'onn's already back from Mars and he's with M'gann celebrating Barbra's anniversary at the cave before I take him when they go out."

"Is he still matching skin tones?"

"Yeah," Conner chuckled. "Everyone likes to pass him around and see him change skin tones. Just don't like it they call him a hot potato."

"Well, what are you gonna do besides beat up Dick and Wally for calling him that?"

"I could think of a few things."

Slapping his leg lightly, Lois rolled her eyes and grinned before reaching for her phone. "I'll call Clark and tell him where to met you, but bring Carter to see us more often."

"No problem, just, try not to freak out when he shifts to his Martian form. He does that from time to time now."

"Can't wait to see that."

It took a few minutes on Conner's part, but soon, Clark was meeting him in the conference room he was waiting in. Aside from the workbench, there was nothing in the unpainted, two windowed room, not even carpet. The ceiling tiles were in place, but that was pretty much it as far as aesthetics went. Still, the smell of sawdust still lingered in the air.

"Sorry that took so long," Clark said as he closed the door behind him. "Perry's still treating this place as if it were one hundred percent." He then took his glasses off and looked Conner over. "So, Lois said you had some questions for me?"

Pushing away from the wall he leaned on, Conner placed his hands on his hips. "Yeah, it's about the team."

"Which one?"

"The Titans. I...I still don't think I'm right for the role as their leader. M'gann keeps reminding me to do and say things and most of the choices I make I have to question them about three times before and after I make them. It's like-"

"A weight is on your back?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. With the old team, I could lead a squad. I got orders from Kaldur, Dick, or one of the League members but now-"

"But now, you have a five person team and no one to give you orders to send down to them. You had a reason to not question what you told them because of the experience of the others who were telling you what to do, right?"

"Well, yeah." A part of Conner was surprised Clark knew how he felt, although with him being Superman, one third of the Trinity of Heroes, he should not have been.

Exhaling a long breath, Clark moved to stand before him and crossed his arms. "I'm going to tell you the secret of being a good leader, Kon-El. This is something you, as the head of the Titans need to hear. I thought by now you would have discovered it on your own seeing as you are a seasoned veteran, but that was my fault. I should have worked with you more once the new black ops members joined."

"Ok, so, what's the big secret?"

"The secret to being a good leader is, never send others into a situation you would not go into yourself and never think you can protect everyone."

Clark paused for a moment to let those words sink into Conner's mind before continuing.

"As Kryptonians, we are basically indestructible. We are roughly the most powerful beings on Earth and as leaders, need to remember others may not be able to handle the same situations as we can. It's in those times when we need to put ourselves in their shoes. If you were, say, Vibe, would you put him in a situation you couldn't handle? Those are the things Batman, Wonder Woman, and myself think of every time we gave you orders. Now you already know about your team's strengths and weaknesses, you know how to have them complement each other, the only thing left is for you to learn to trust them like we had to learn to trust you and the other original team members."

A moment passed with the two standing in silence when Conner nodded slightly. "So that's it? I just have to put them in situations I know they can handle?"

"That's right."

"But what if I'm wrong? What if I send them on a mission and one or all don't come back?"

"Kon-El, you can't protect everyone from danger. Unfortunately, that may happen one day. You may even send them on routine patrol and one doesn't come back. You can't follow them and protect them from harm every minute of every day. You need to trust them. That was why Batman wanted you to run the fail safe mission with them, to see how they would react when faced with overwhelming odds."

Clark then stepped closer to his 'brother' and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you and M'gann don't want to do that to them, but it is a necessary thing to do. Eventually, there will be a time they will be faced with those odds. All you can do is trust they will do everything in their power to continue fighting. Remember when Ma and Pa took you to church? There will never be more than what you can handle put on you."

Letting out a breath, Conner nodded and looked back up into Clark's eyes. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Flashing Conner a grin, Clark donned his glasses again and went back into his 'civilian' mode. "Now, if there is anything else, let me know. If not, then don't forget to visit Ma and Pa with M'gann and Carter. And Lois wants to see him too."

"I know, she already told me."

"She tell you how she got some new things for him?"

"No."

"Notice J'onn's trying to get him hooked on Oreos?"

"M'gann's parents are doing the same. Must be a Martian thing."

"I tell you it's because of you, Lois and I got married faster than what I had planned?"

"About a hundred times. For the man of steel, you sure had cold feet."

"And for a clone of me, we are nearly nothing alike."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Have to confess, this chap was not in the story until two days ago. I just thought it would be nice to see the 'girls night out'. As always, thank you for the reviews and continued support. Now to answer a few questions ya'll have posted but remember, some things may be spoilers if you've asked the right question so I may leave the answers a little ambiguous:**

**The Darkman- There has always been a respect between Ra's and Bruce, so there's more to him than simply defeating Batman even though he knows his identity. But who says Ra's is behind Damion being there with the detective?**

**Riley 000 – Interesting you focused on the failsafe mission…**

**Seychelles – The two you asked about, I would be on the lookout later on.**

**Eric – You know, I do have a theory about the creation of the Lazarus pit that could work for this universe. As for the Light, I always saw Lex as the type to have a grander plan from the get go and see everyone as a pawn in his grand game of chess, which is why I think he and Bee weren't at the summit. And since he could view himself as the orchestrator of the 'game' he could see every fallen partner as a necessary sacrifice for his own goals and keeping those he can use more of in the long run. I'll also get to changing that rating, thought I set it to teen and not K so thanks for bringing that up. And remember, Lois wears the pants, but Clark wears the trunks.**

**Ben A – The Brain is still in custody and will most likely stay there unless he is needed by those left in the Light. It's mostly how they see each other and other potential members on how useful they can be at any given time. I also have plans for the Hall of Justice. Terra, Terra…hmm, and a failsafe mission…**

**PinkRedRose – Terra, Terra…**

5.

Sake Restaurant - Gotham City

April 25

20:23 UTC

"No way, so you have pictures of Dick in speedos?" Karen asked as she nearly chocked on her tea.

"Yep," Barbra answered. "Ten years old and running around Gotham in little green trunks. How Batman didn't die of embarrassment in anyone's guess."

"Was it a Circus thing or a hazing?" Cassie laughed.

"Honestly, I really don't want to know. But thank all that smiles on blackmail those pictures were still in the Batcomputer."

Celebrating Barbra's anniversary on the team, the all-girl group occupied a back table within a Japanese restaurant in downtown Gotham. It was one of the few places billionaire Bruce Wayne had marked as a safe place for the members of the League to speak freely as it was always swept for electronic bugs. It was also one of his and the rest of the Batclan's most frequented spots with an out-of-the-way table always ready for them. Not only were they treated to a rather expensive dinner, given to them by a generous entrepreneur, but they were also treated to a show as the chef prepared their food on a large, flat skillet in front of the women. M'gann had to scoot her seat back and claim a fear of fire whenever the flames rose high while Kara was tempted to put the flames out with her freeze breath.

Twirling a batch of noodles on her fork, Zatanna enjoyed the taste of the fried pasta when she heard her name called. "Hm, what?"

"I said," Raquel, known as the black super heroine Rocket, repeated. "Who is this mystery man we've seen you with?"

"Oh, um, we're just friends."

"Friends who see a lot of each other?"

"She's got a boyfriend?" asked Karen.

"Who is he?" Artemis asked with a grin. "Our minds are inquired right now."

"I thought you never cared for anything like this," Zatanna pointed out.

"Sue me, I don't have to be a tough girl every day. I can take some time off. So spill it or we'll make M'gann here read your mind."

To add to the comment, the grinning Megan disguised M'gann had her eyes glow a bright green.

"No need for that," Zatanna laughed. "His name's John."

"What's his last name?" Cassie asked.

"Constantine."

"Quick," Artemis said as she began pointing around the table," Barbra, run a background check, M'gann, get the Bioship ready, Raquel, grab your belt and make one of your bubble things. We have to move out and catch this guy before he learns about Zee's extracurricular. We move out in five, go, go, go!"

"Yeah, I think they didn't just give you water." Taking her glass away playfully, M'gann moved it just out of her reach.

"Oh whatever, just trying to be celebratory."

"Pardon me," a disguised Koriand'r said as she tapped Karen's shoulder. The glamour charm she wore made her resemble a strawberry blonde, Caucasian woman in a pair of jeans and a white blouse with normal green eyes. "But why do you want a background check on this John Constantine? And what is a background check?"

Smiling at her question, Karen patted her on the hand. "It's a joke we do to everyone who dates outside the teams. It's done to see if they can be trusted by looking into their past."

"There's no need for that," Zatanna said. "He's actually involved with the occult. I've seen him work. He actually does exorcisms from time to time."

"Then we better use a quiji board for his background check," Raquel joked.

"So is this all you do when you're 'off the clock'?" Kara asked Barbra.

"Sometimes," the former Batgirl answered. "It's good to get away from the Kevlar and tights every once in a while. How's your sushi rolls?"

"Not what I expected. I would have thought they would be cooked. Guess they forgot to do that part."

Laughing, Barbra put her arm around the Kryptonian. "Oh, honey, they're supposed to be raw."

"Hey, maybe next time we can have a night like this in Titans tower," Cassie said. "Remember when we watched Wrestlemania in Watchtower? It would be like that, only on a bigger TV."

"Sixty inch screen showing guys in tight trunks," Zatanna said. "Very nice."

Leaning over to their Martian friend, Artemis nudged her to get her attention. "Hey Megs, You haven't said too much. Thinking about something?"

"I'm just wondering if things are alright at the tower," M'gann answered. "The team's staying over to bond more and Conner's taking care of Carter. I just hope nothing goes wrong."

"Really? A tower full of superheroes with the archer I'm training, and you're worried about something going wrong?"

"Well, maybe you're right."

"Besides, Conner knows better than to let them play Truth or Dare, or Twister. Nothing to worry about."

Titans Tower

April 25

20:29 UTC

"So which one is this?" Garfield asked as he lay on his back on the floor.

Looking at the green shapeshifter, Kyle pulled a disk from the DVD box he held. "It's episodes two sixty six through three sixteen. Season fourteen. This one's where the war comes to an end."

Inside the living area of Titans Tower, Kyle, Garfield, Cissie, and a reluctant Raven were gathered around the TV for a team bonding camp-in. It had been recommended the Titans get to know one another and this was one of several instances where they all got together on their personal time. Snacks were sitting on the table along with drinks and a stack of DVDs each selected for the night. A mixture of action, horror, fantasy, and anime waited to be seen but no one was in a hurry to see them.

"Well before you start, I just gotta know, does he or does he not get with the girl?" Garfield asked as he grabbed a drink with his tail.

"Which one?" Kyle asked.

"Who cares?" Cissie said from the sofa behind them. "They're just cartoons. Fantasy. Make believe fictional people that never existed. You guys talk about them as if they're real." She carefully applied a coat of red nail polish to her toes.

"It's a well written series and full of action, Cissie," Kyle defended. "The story is so-"

"Stupid?"

"No! It's so deep that it makes American shows, both live action and animated, look like a fanboy or girl wrote them. All except a few that is. So stop hatin' on the eye candy known as Blea-"

"Pease," Raven said from her spot on the single seat where she was reading a book while floating above said seat, "That Anime's nothing compared to Tokko or High school of the Dead."

"You watch Anime?" Kyle asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"When I was living on my own. I needed something to laugh at."

"Um, those aren't supposed to be funny," Garfield pointed out.

"They were to me. So was Attack on Titan."

"Okay, so, Raven's got peculiar tastes when it comes to her sense of humor." Placing the disk in the DVD tray, the shorts and jersey garbed Green Lantern started the episodes his green friend wanted to see.

"At least tell me if Ichie meets Hime by the time it's all done." Garfield said as he moved to a sitting position.

"Ichihime? You mean Ichiruki, right?" Kyle told him. He Rukia's main man."

"No, he's Orihime's. Rukia's with Renji."

"Ichiruki."

"Ichihime."

"I don't know you anymore." Kyle said as he turned his head.

"I doubt you ever did." added Garfield. Unknown to both the teen boys, their female partners were rolling their eyes.

"How's things in here?" Conner asked as he walked into the room. He was already dressed for bed in a pair of lounge pants and tank top.

"Good, all things considered." Cissie muttered.

"Considered what?" Conner's question surprised her as she momentarily forgot about his enhanced hearing.

"Conner," Kyle broke in, "who do you pick? Ichiruki?

"Or Ichihime?" Garfield finished.

Looking at both boys, the Titan leader raised an eyebrow. "Umm..."

"Oh forget their stupid argument," Cissie said as both teen boys objected to her words. "We want to do other things beside watch movies or play video games."

"Read a book and not a cereal box then," Raven commented.

"Shut up," Cissie snapped, not seeing the ultra-small grin on Raven's face.

"What else do you want to do?" Grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator, Conner unscrewed the cap and took a swig of the liquid.

"Well, how about a game?"

Their leader simply shook is head. "League's banned us from playing any kind of game whatsoever."

"Why?"

"Give me a game and I'll give you a reason." This drew the others attentions.

Narrowing her eyes, Cissie said her first game. "Twister."

"The first Robin and Wally got into a fist fight and Artemis nearly shot them both for touching her rear."

"O...kay."

"Poker," Kyle said.

Again, Conner shook his head. "Money was used as payment as well as clothing. League didn't like that."

"Hungry Hungry Hippos?" Garfield asked.

"Artemis used Wally as her hippo and tried to stuff oranges in his mouth."

"Monopoly," Kyle said.

"Never play against anyone associated with Batman."

"Trivial Pursuit," Raven suggested.

"I nearly killed Robin."

Garfield went next. "Duck Duck Goose."

"M'gann nearly killed Wally."

"Chutes and Ladders?" Kyle went next.

"No...never again."

"Connect Four," Cissie asked hopefully.

"Kaldur had to go to therapy and still has nightmares."

"Truth or Dare, Break the Ice...Candy Land?!" Cissie said when the others looked at each other like all this was unbelievable.

"I'm still not allowed in Denmark, Wally sabotaged the marbles with Robins exploding spheres, and again, Wally West."

"Why Denmark?" Garfield asked.

"That's on a need to know basis."

"That's a joke, right?" Raven asked. "About Denmark?"

Taking another swig of his drink, Conner began to walk to the main bedroom he and his wife shared. "Yeah."

"I like it," the Gothic girl said flatly as she resumed reading her book.

"And one more thing," Conner said before he left the room, "it's Ichihime."

Sake - Gotham City

April 25

20:52 UTC

Leaning back in her chair, Zatanna let out a long breath. "Woo, I'm stuffed."

"Yeah," Raquel said as she put her drink down. "And to think, I didn't think there was a lot on my plate."

"We all thought that." After wiping her mouth, Artemis stretched her back and arms, popping her bones from sitting too long. "Okay, so what's the damage?"

"On you know who's tab," Barbra told her.

"Oh yeah."

"What are these things?" Holding up a light tan object, Kara showed it to Karen.

"That's a fortune cookie," Karen explained. "You usually only get them with Chinese food, not Japane-"

"Okay, nobody move or I'll fill ya with an overdose of your daily intake of iron!"

Bursting in through the front door, several men wearing clown masks and brandishing weapons took positions around the female criminal known as Harley Quinn. Handguns, shotguns, and uzis were held out at everyone in the Japanese restaurant with the implication being for them to all remain cooperative.

Skipping ahead of the Joker thugs, Harley happily hummed as she twirled a baton in one hand with her red streaked blonde hair done up in pigtails bobbing around. Anyone would look ridiculous wearing a red and black leather corset with a frilly tutu underneath a matching skirt but she managed to pull it off. Her legs were covered in long stockings, one black and the other red with steel tipped calf-high black boots.

"Hey, you, the Chinese guy behind the countah, Why don't you be nice and fill a takeout bag with tha money. And gimme a dozen of those eggrolls in those cute little boxes to go. And Heaven help ya if ya skip on the soy sauce!"

Nodding nervously, the Japanese, not Chinese, clerk did as she ordered while telling an employee to get her the food she demanded. While he emptied the register, the henchmen went about robbing the customers while also partaking in what was on their plates. Some laughed at the misfortune of others while a few rushed the customers to give them their possessions.

_"And the tradition continues_," Zatanna said over the mental link.

"_Is this the part where we smash some heads_?" Kara asked excitedly.

"_Of course, girlfriend,_" Raquel answered. "_We take the goons down and then the clown._"

"_Barbra, if you please._" On M'gann's words, the former Batgirl flipped a small compartment on her wheelchair's armrest and pressed several buttons, causing the light over their private table to fade out without anyone noticing.

"Come on! Hurry it up with those egg rolls!" Harley yelled. "Or should I go back there and make'em myself?"

"Ppplease, mmmmiss," the clerk stuttered. "They're nearly done."

"Well they better be finished in the next five seconds or things will get messy." Holding out her baton, Harley flicked a switch on the side of the shaft. After a 'click', twin blades popped out on either side of the baton as the criminal woman grinned evilly.

"Nice toy, wanna see mine?" Standing against a wall, Rocket finished slipping on her bomber jacket then cracked her knuckles. "I really hate clowns."

"Well if it ain't Missile." Harley said as she moved back from the counter and the scared clerk.

"Missile? Girl you're gonna learn my name when this night's over."

"Says you, pincushion. I'm gonna rip those piercings right outta-hey, my baton!"

"You mean this one?" Sitting on a table, Zatanna twirled the weapon in one hand with a grin. "You should learn to keep an eye on your things."

"Gimme that-AGH!"

Flying around the tutu wearing criminal, Bumblebee zapped her rear end and laughed as she jumped into the air while rubbing her injury. The winged woman then flew over to the counter and leaned on a water filed glass.

"You stupid bug, just wait until I get a fly swatt-AGH!" Jumping back and falling to the floor, Harley barely had time to avoid having her nose shot off by a fast moving projectile.

"Fly swatt-Agh? Never heard of one." Stepping out of the darkened area near Rocket, Tigress aimed her crossbow at Harley after firing a bolt near her face.

"What are you boys waiting for? get the- oh crap."

Looking over to where her pack of thugs were, she saw them floating in the air with Mrs. Martian holding them up with her telekinesis. Beside the Martian, stood Supergirl with a weapon in hand. With no effort at all, she smashed it and took pleasure in seeing Harley's eyes bulge at the sight of her feat.

With a large smile, Harley laughed nervously while thumping her hands on her thighs. Acting fast, she drew a pair of chicken nunchucks hidden on the backside of her corset and struck a defensive pose.

"Okay, just...just take it easy. I'm getting out of here and none of youse gonna stop me." Just as she said those words, an object from the back of the restaurant struck her chickenchucks and pinned them to the wall behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw they were struck with a Batarang when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Greetings," Starfire said as she gave her a smile. "I do believe this is the part where you and your criminal friends lose."

Moving closer to the surrounded Harley Quinn, the heroines were looking forward to keeping their tradition alive and well by knocking the female criminal around before leaving her for the police.

"I only came out tonight without my puddin to have a good time," Harley gulped. "And honestly, I'm feeling so attacked right now."

Watching the girls do their work, Barbra smirked and coolly called or the authorities, proud she still had it in her to make that hard throw with her Batarang earlier. "Still got it."


	7. Spitin Fire 2-1

**AN: Okay, the name of this ep should give you a good idea as to the ones making up the bulk of this next part. Also, I've been teasing it, but here's the intro of wee baby Carter. I'm also thinking of changing the updates to more than once a week to get this story moving along faster so there may be one to two chapters posted a week from time to time, haven't decided yet.**

**Eric – Wanna know how you get nightmares from Connect 4? Three words, Wally and Dick. The Volleyball Net is up, and UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, successor to Greenwich Mean Time. It goes by the 24hr time. I'm not that knoligible about it, but I take it as going by my local time, which is Central America. I think wherever you are, you can adjust it to equal 00:00 to midnight, 06:00 to 6:00 AM, 12:00 to 12:00 PM, 18:00 to 6:00 PM, then back to 00:00 to midnight. I thought putting the times like that would be easier for the readers than putting EST or WST. Hope that made sense and hope I got it right.**

**Riley 000 – Yeah, I watch Bleach and wanted to put that Ichiruki vs Ichihime war thing going on with fans. I'm with the latter.**

**Seychelles – No prob**

**Supernuclear – I can go ahead and say Zachary won't be in this one. And Klarion was only demaged greatly and sent back to his own dimension.**

2. Spittin' Fire

1.

Titan Tower

April, 28

09:00 UTC

_"Good morning, Jump City. This is your man with the plan, the host with the most, the DJ of...well I can't think of anything to rhyme with DJ besides PJ or TJ but that doesn't mean I'm not the one supplying you with all the tunes you need to get up and moving on this bright and sunny Sunday morning. First on the list is the new single by my favorite bombshell, Cassidy. But first, I have to mention the traffic to the west of the city has severely been slowed down due to a jackknifed big rig so expect a delay of up to forty five minutes. Also, you might want to bring a fork as nothing but bacon is covering the road and don't forget the eggs-"_

Reaching out from under the covers, Conner switched off the radio next to him and uncovered his head and chest but didn't bother getting up just yet. He instantly knew M'gann was not beside him as she was used to getting up earlier and he could always tell where she was as a result from their continuous mind link; however, there was another mind entering his thoughts at the moment.

At the foot of the bed, a thin, spidery, white arm hooked onto the covers. Three fingers held a small body in place as another arm gripped the blankets a moment after. It was a struggle for the small bat-like form, but it eventually climbed up over the edge and lay on its belly as it looked the leader to the Titans over. Red eyes reflected the incoming sunlight from the window behind the head of the bed as a tiny mouth opened to let out a near silent sound. After looking over the large form of Conner, it then began to move forward in a slow crawl.

As delicate as it looked, the white, boney body of the small creature was incredibly strong, stronger than a human infant its age. It was a splitting image of its mother with some minute traces of more human qualities such as how the head and facial features were shaped. Where its mouth was were no lips, only a clear view of its triangular teeth, which was something a human infant would not have at this age yet.

Arriving at Conner's chest, the small alien creature looked at the Kryptonian as it rode his slowly rising and falling chest while making another sound like the first one it made. It's skin changed from a pale white to a more tanned human-like tone, matching the man's exactly. Just as it crawled slightly forward, Conner opened his eyes and gave a small 'boo', startling the creature slightly as its eyes grew wide. It then let out something of a laugh as the arms of the muscular human wrapped around it and received a smile back.

As usual, it was quiet in the room as he and the small creature, his son, had a mental conversation. Normally, he would simply speak his thoughts to whomever was in the mental link with him, but that was not the case for the Martian/Kryptonian hybrid in his arms, who by default always had a mental link up. It was still an infant and as such, made communicating with it requiring picturing images instead of using a particular language.

Sitting up, Conner had a mental image filled conversation with his son, which was filled with pictures of M'gann lifting him out of his crib, eating a bowl of grapes, seeing the Martian woman cooking breakfast, watching a singing orange dinosaur on TV while a canine Garfield and Wolf played tug of war with a piece of rope, and crawling to the bedroom where Conner was still sleeping.

"Busy morning." Getting out of bed, Conner grabbed his shirt from last night and draped it over his shoulder. He then sent the mental pictures of Wally, Artemis, and their daughter to his son who understood what he implied and maneuvered to wrap his arms around his father's neck for a piggyback ride.

Entering the living area with connected kitchen, the two were quickly approached by Wolf as the back riding alien infant squealed with delight.

"Aw, and I was just winning." Joining the three, Garfield pet Wolf's head as the infant took on the same coloring as his skin. "Looks like Carter wants to come with me."

The image of the animal shifting teen flashed in Conner's mind who maneuvered his son to hand him over. "See?" Garfield laughed. "He loves to hang with the party animal."

As the small alien creature settled into Garfield's arms, he changed his appearance to his human one. Unlike full blooded Martians, Carter had a set human appearance. His skin, although it was green at the moment, matched his father's perfectly along with the black as coal hair. His face was reminiscent of M'gann's as were his eyes, which were the only thing he appeared not able to change as they stayed their true Martian red.

"M'gann still in the kitchen?" Conner asked.

"Yup, sis's just finishing breakfast. She's making plenty since Wally and Irey's coming." Forming his prehensile tail, the teen boy had the end grow long hairs to wave in front of the infant who tried to grab at it. "I think I'll teach Carter about lizards today. Maybe show him a gecko or a horned frog while playing hide and seek in front of the TV."

"Sounds good," Conner said with a yawn as he slipped his shirt on. "You going patrolling with me tonight?"

"You bet. And Raven's coming along to. Zatanna called and said she's coming over with her later."

As Garfield carried his nephew into the living area, Conner ventured over to the refrigerator and grabbed the juice. Forgoing a glass, he began to drink straight from the jug when the liquid stopped flowing and the plastic container floated away from him. It then flew over to the counter several steps behind him beside an annoyed looking Martian.

"Why do you always drink from the jug?" M'gann asked him.

"Why do you keep taking it away from me when I do?"

"It's a bad habit and I don't want Carter or Garfield to get any ideas."

"Everything I do's a bad habit."

"Quit your pouting," M'gann said as she lightly flicked his nose and moved to set a tray of biscuits on the counter. "Better eat before you know who gets here and-"

Putting an end to her words, Conner reached out and brought her in for a kiss. "Morning."

Smiling back, his Martian wife wrapped her arms around his neck. "Morning." She then met him in another kiss.

"OH GOD, MY EYES!"

Separating with a slight jump, the couple looked for the cause of the outburst with their faces taking on a light red coloring.

"Gar?!" M'gann said as she fixed her hair and Conner stood straight up after leaning against the counter.

"Just kidding, sis." Beside the green teen, an emerald skinned Carter giggled.

**Recognized guest, Wally West. Recognized guest, Artemis West. Recognized guest, Isis West.**

"Oh, they're here," M'gann pipped. "Let's get the table set and enjoy a nice, country style breakfast."

Leaving the kitchen for the dining table, M'gann used her telekinesis to bring everything she had prepared as she greeted her friends. As for Conner, he turned to Garfield who smiled back at him.

"Just wait until I see you near Raven again. That will be fun."

With his face turning red and his smile fading to a grin, Garfield slowly sank behind the couch. He often forgot Conner would rib him about his crush on the Goth girl and questioned himself as to why he ever got the broodish version of Superman to loosen up after meeting him. Then again, he always saw him as a big brother and was one of the only people to not be intimidated by him in the least.

As Garfield disappeared, Carter looked from the sinking teen to his father and let out a giggle as he went to join his uncle.

Happy Harbor

April 28

10:47 UTC

"No, no, no, no, you have to stay lose, amigo. Stay relaxed and move to the beat."

"I just don't think I'll get this by next week."

"It's easy once you get the hang of it. Now, take my hand and remember, tell me how to move with your body. As the dude, you lead and as the chick, she'll follow."

Standing in the middle of the training area, Francisco and Jaime took each other by the hands. Music filled the area as the newer recruit attempted to teach the Scarab wearing teen how to dance with a partner. The two had been at it for the past three days and so far, Jaime had shown a slight improvement but still needed a great deal of work. As time went by though, he seemed to be taking a step back with every two he took forward, figuratively speaking that is.

"Ow, feet," Francisco said as Jaime stepped on his outside toe. "Ow, you hurt lil' dude."

"Urgh! This sucks! I'll never get this down by next friday!" Jaime yelled.

"Yes you can. All you need to do is relax and just have fun," Francisco reassured him. "Cass doesn't seem like the kind of girl you should be so uptight around. Unless you're sparring with her, then you might as well run for the hills."

"Yeah, she does spare stiff sometimes."

"Sometimes? Nearly knocked me into next week with that left hook of hers."

"Just wait until she lands a kick, that will send you through a wall." Entering the training area, Mal Duncan joined the other two boys with a towel draped around his neck and his helmet in hand. Like the others, he was dressed in his combat gear. "Even with the armor, I could feel it clearly."

"Man up, Mal," Barbra said over the intercom. "You three are going to need to work together in a few moments and what I have planned will need you at your top game."

"Why does every woman tell me to 'man up'?" Mal asked as he put his helmet on and tossed his towel to the side. "Is it a joke or-"

"It's because whenever you complain, it always seems to involve a woman." Entering the training area from the other side of the room, Cassie, in her Wonder Girl uniform consisting of her usual red tack pants, black tank top with Wonder Woman symbol, and sneakers, finished slipping on her bracelets. She even greeted Jaime with a wink and wave. "So you just need to ma-"

"Alright, let's just get on with it," Mal interrupted her then turned his attention to Barbra in the observation room. "So what do you have in mind, Oracle?"

Bringing up her planned exercise, Barbra Gordon, or Oracle, brought up the list of participants scheduled to be there when the door opened and the last few team members entered the training area. "Good, now that you're all here, we will be dividing up into two teams once I get the specs loaded. Give me a moment or two."

Standing across from the others, Robin, Starfire, Bumblebee and Supergirl, all in their mission gear, waited for the session to begin.

"Glorious morning," Starfire announced to the others. "I hope you all had a wonderful sleep and scrumptious breakfast."

"Of course we did, Kori," Francisco answered. "How about you?"

"Oh yes. The dreams I had were most pleasant as were the unfertilized scrambled chicken fetuses with honey mustard on the side."

"Somehow, she makes scrambled eggs sound disgusting," Mal muttered next to Karen.

"As long as you never ask her to cook, you'll be fine," Karen muttered back.

Standing a few feet from the other, Robin and Jaime, now in his Beetle armor sans mask, tried to look anywhere but at each other. It was well known Tim and Cassie were a couple for a while before a mutual breakup where a few months later, Jaime gathered up enough courage to finally ask the demi-Amazon out. Working in the field wasn't a problem as there was work to be done, it was the down times they were together that were awkward.

"Are you still deciding on which team you'll be joining?" Karen asked Kara, Supergirl, as she made sure her sleeves were secure around her wrists. She still donned the same blue two tone uniform she acquired from the Fortress of Solitude with the ankle length, open skirt that acted as a waist mounted cape.

"Yeah, both black ops and League have expressed I would be suited on either one given my skills and lineage but I think I'll most likely wait until Koriander chooses," Kara explained.

"Why wait for her?"

"Because her power level would be on one team and I would be on the other. Tactical thinking would suggest that would be an intelligent way of dividing ourselves to secure the greatest advantage in battle."

"Always a warrior."

"Old habits."

"Alright guys," Oracle spoke over the intercom. "Todays session will be a throwback to our childhood but with real world outcomes. Should you get hit, you are considered KIA. Once one team is eliminated, the round is over, understood?"

All nodded or gave a thumbs up.

"Kori, Kara, don't worry if you don't know this game, it's easy to pick up and the basic object is even in the title, dodgeball."

The guys showed their enthusiasm by highfiving and grinning as they called out who were the captains and who they wanted for their teams.

"Just a minute, guys," Oracle interrupted. "I will be deciding the teams. The location of this skirmish will be the desert so you will have to combat anything from sandstorms, intense heat, freezing nights, or mirage imagery, whatever the computer decides as I have set it to random. And the teams I have chosen are...let's have girls versus guys."

Immediately quieting down, the four guys looked over at the four girls and grew extremely nervous. Each knew even a kid game could prove most painful, especially with the two newer alien females. Slowly reaching next to him, Francisco placed his hand on Mal's helmeted head and quickly pulled his covering off. He then practically slammed it on his own head and kept his hands over it.

Reacting to the sudden disappearance of his helmet, Mal reached over to the shorter Hispanic teen known as Vibe and fought for is helmet. "Hey, what are you-?"

"Oh come on, Mal," Francisco protested. "You're covered in armor."

"And the helmet's part of my armor."

"Well that's more than what I have."

"Not my fault you look like Fonzy in those jeans and leather jacket."

"Just lend me your helmet."

"No, it's mine."

"Give it to me,"

"No, give it back."

"Come on, man."

"No."

"Don't be stingy."

"Hands off."

As the two argued over Mal's helmet, Robin and a fully armored Blue Beetle chanced a glance at each other then looked over at the girls who were either popping their knuckles, stretching their arms, or in the case of Cassie, had a devilish smile as she flexed her fingers.

"So, who do you think Cass will go after first?" Robin asked.

"You," Blue Beetle answered. "You're her ex."

"Yeah, but you forgot her birthday."

"You never took her dancing like she wanted."

"Neither did you."

"But I'm working on it."

With Guardian and Vibe fighting over who wears a helmet, the four girls smirked and quietly picked their targets as they huddled together.

"Match you for it?" Blue Beetle asked.

Sticking his hand out, Robin bounced his closed fist in the air three times as his partner did the same and threw scissors to the Beetle's paper. "Ha, scissors cut paper, you go against Cassie."

"No, your scissors are blunt, you face Cass."

"That's not how it works."

"I don't care, she hurts!"

Around them, a loud buzzer sounded as the training area shifted to mimic a desert environment with dunes, boulders, shrubs, and a blazing sun overhead. Several dozen, glowing blue orbs designed to temporarily paralyze whoever they struck appeared from the ground at Oracle's command. Even though they were an even distance from the two teams, the girls managed to get to them first, going on offense while the boys were forced on defense. At the realization of their current predicament, the four boys dove for cover.

Ten minutes later, it was all over with Bumblebee, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, and Starfire sweeping the guys three games to zero. They still had to spare with each other after that.

Palo Alto

April 28

20:07 UTC

Moving faster than the normal eye could see, a crimson blur raced through the streets and up the side of a building until it arrived on the roof. Coming to a stop, Wally West finished eating a corndog he picked up from a nearby street vender along with some candy bars he snagged from his stash at the house he and is wife came from. Tossing the stick aside, he grabbed the energy drink from his inside jacket pocket and popped the top.

"For someone who can break the sound barrier, you're still unbelievably slow." Coming out of the shadows, the former heroine known as Artemis and later Tigress made sure her gloves and forearm covers were tight. "I told you to be here as soon as I dropped Isis off at my mom's."

Since the invasion of Darkseid and his Apokolyptic forces was deterred, the couple formally retired from the hero life full time. Even though they were no longer on a team of crime fighters, they still went on patrol from time to time to make sure Palo Alto was a safe place for not only them but for others to raise a family.

"You know me and my metabolism, babe," Wally quipped as he zipped up his red leather jacket and shotgunned his energy drink. "So, you wanna see who gets the most trash off the streets again?"

"Actually, I was looking forward to keeping together." Taking her brown mask from her belt, Artemis slipped it over her face to become Tigress, her second alter-ego since becoming a crime fighter. Her brown and black leather costume was an homage to her mother with subtle differences to allow for the inclusion of a collapsible longbow holstered on her lower back.

"Anyone tell you, you look great in a skin tight tiger costume?"

"Keep it zipped up until we're done." She then made sure her husband's jacket was fully zipped then lowered is goggles in place. "How's the knee?"

"It'll hold. So where do you wanna start tonight?"

"There's some vandals causing trouble at the water processing center. Cops have never caught them so we could beat them to the punch and catch them in the act. That would be a good place to start."

"Lead the way, beautiful." Following the blonde, semi-retired heroine, Wally couldn't get rid of the smirk on his face. "Loving the view."

Shaking her head with a grin, Artemis drew a crossbow and fired a grappling arrow to the next building across the street. "There's more to see later."

A blur of wind sailed past her as Wally shot over to where she intended to swing to then yelled back at her. "And that's a sight I can't wait to see!"

Rolling her eyes, the Tigress dressed Artemis gripped her rope and swung out to join her speedster husband.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Anyone who may be going to sdcc today, please, pick me up a golden Dragon Dagger, tell the WB/DC panel to make another season of YJ, kick the shins of anyone from marvel for me, and have Jason David Frank send me a personalized message. I'll award you with another chapter this week if you do so (or didn't do so, as I'll post another anyways). Also, I kinda fell out of my interest to update any more of my usm saga. I want to then I don't want to. Just need some motivation to finish the last two parts. I've got notes but nothing more than that. So until then, I'll be focusing mostly on Titans and trying to get my original stories published.**

**DarkMgc - Thanks. Carter has a definitive human appearance from his Kryptonian side but also a real Martian form to change between. He also has white skin from his Martian half but changes it to reflect who he wants to go with. So far that's all he can do as his powers need time to develop. And I would put him at under one year old or almost one given M'gann already being preggers in the few months after Darkseid's invasion.**

**Eric - You got the appearance of Carter right and the solid red eyes. I wanted a simple mixture of both species and hoped I pulled it off. I'll go ahead and say this too, Zatanna's teaching Raven about harnessing more of her energy into what she casts. In the last story, Raven only knows how to do so much but Zatanna's teaching her how to go further with those techniques but more on that later. With Garfield, it's the whole opposites attract. (Some Goth girls are hot) and I would think being green all the time would allow him to go out to meet others his own age. This could also be seen as a version of his sis and Conner meeting where MM 'liked his shirt'. I don't think Jaime was paired with anyone in the comics but it was shown he did like Cassie so I was surprised those two weren't together in the show. There was more between them than her and Tim actually. Paula's still in Gotham and two of your guesses on who Wally and Arty will meet are correct, hope you like who I have waiting in the wings.**

**Reilly 000 - The Titans are publicly known but no one knows who the actual members are beside the criminals who've had a run in with them. I'm putting more on this later in another episode down the line. And yeah, Jaime' parents are there, they were just out for the day last time he went home. For Luthor's men, or any other henchmen, I think their leader would employ locally to make sure no one person sees everything, like bringing in people from whatever sectors he would need to keep the big picture scattered at the end of the day. And come on, no cell can hold the Joker, he's just that dang good but Batman's better. Addressing Conner's mission gear, you'll just have to wait until later for your question to be answered on if he has stealth tech or not (hehe). Jump City gets a team of superheroes because the Team is on the East Coast. The League would see this and have each half of the US covered by the teams while they patrol their cities and handle world crisis'. The tower is sort of like the Hall of Justice on the West Coast only not open to the public to keep identities of Titan and other team members fully unknown**

**Lauren - Thanks. This season will bounce between both the Team and Titans, sort of a look back at season one with a new team but with what's happened, the original black ops team will take the lead from time to time. I have no plans for Barbra to get 'full' use of her legs this season and yes, there will be Wonderbeetle. I think that had a bigger following than Cass and Tim due to the comic and I wanted to try writing that one.**

**Ben A - Raven does live in the tower and works with Zatanna for training with her abilities since they're both similar in nature with some differences. Wally has no hero name as he's semi-retired from the hero game and only goes out to patrol his and Artemis' city from time to time.**

2.

Palo Alto Water Station Number Seven

April 28

20:32 UTC

"Get that cover off, now. We don't have a lot of time afforded us, which means we have none to waste."

"Yes, Mistress."

Throughout Palo Alto's largest water station, a small army of no less than thirty red robed, hooded individuals worked as fast as their leader made them. Several worked with the water valves, loosening the covers to gain access to the life sustaining liquid flowing from the large treatment vats and into the city. Hundreds of pipelines made up thousands of miles of paths for the water to traverse, leaving several ways to interfere with the constant flow. Tools clanged loudly, feet ran silently, and one pair of white, high heeled, bone-like boots clacked along the concrete floor as the body they were attached to oversaw all the work the concealed individuals went through.

"Mistress," one of the covered figures said as they came up to their leader. "We have finished with our mark and are proceeding with the main objective."

"Very good. Have the men ready for what they must do. Brother Blood was specific in the details we are to adhere to."

"Yes ma'am. As you wish."

With a bow, the individual backed away and went back to keeping the others on pace for what they needed to do.

Above the main floor of the facility, the goggled Wally and tiger masked Artemis peaked in through a window, making sure the moonlight was not behind them, should it give away their presence. It had taken some time but the two managed to hack into the security camera feed and see where the main activity was taking place.

"Okay," Tigress said as she and Wally kneeled against the wall under the window. "It looks as if they don't care about security with no guards at the doors and they're mostly situated in the center of the plant. Taking them out's going to be rough without being noticed."

"Know what you mean. They're so close together, one goes down and they all know." Looking the live feed over, on Tigress's forearm mounted holo-computer, Wally saw only three cloaked men separated from the main group as they were busy in the control room. "What happened to the vandals? Why are there rejects from Dungeons and Dragons in there?"

"Beats me. Police said they never got a look at whoever was leaving those paintings on the walls." Tigress paused as she switched views and got a camera to focus on a wall with a large red design on it. "And it looks as if these are the vandals, look."

Holding her arm where her husband could get a better look, she pointed out a red jagged symbol in the center of the screen. It was the same exact one both had seen on the news and was the reason they decided to make one of their 'date nights' be about the costumes. Even though they were retired, they still kept their city safe and rounded up criminals every now and then.

"Yeah, that's it alright," Wally said. "Looks like a chicken getting licked by a bull."

"A bull with four eyes?"

"Those are eyes?"

"That's what they look like. And that's not a chicken. It looks like several, one, two, three...seven marks of some kind."

"That just so looks like a chicken."

"Enough with the dang chicken, Speed bump. I got a screen shot of it. Maybe Nightwing or Batman can tell us what it is."

"Right, cause we just need to stop whatever they're trying to do to the water."

"Then let's get to work." With a sly grin, Tigress kissed Wally on the cheek before the two split up. Both knew what they needed to do as they had already gone over the plan shortly after their arrival.

First, as always, rescue the hostages. Wally quickly saw to it after sneaking in through another window and zipped to a large holding area where nine men and two women sat tied on the ground. Holding a finger to his lips, he made sure none of the cloaked people were watching the room before setting out to untie them.

Meanwhile, Tigress entered the building through a back entrance and made her way to where three large, blue barrels the hooded army brought in sat with what looked to be pumps on each one. Seeing as no one was paying any attention to them, she pulled out a small camera and photographed the labels on the side.

"Carbogen, Datura, these are hallucinogens." She tried to read the rest but could not for the life of her even pronounce what she saw. "What in the world are they after dumping this stuff in the water?"

Taking a few more photos of the barrels and the men working within the plant, Tigress slowly maneuvered away from the area to the control room where several of the hooded individuals were stationed at the main computer hub responsible for regulating the water. Being careful to open the door, the brown and black clad woman made sure there were no hostages not counted for before rolling a small, gray orb into the room then shut the door immediately after. Ducking beside the door, Tigress winced a bit before putting her hands over her ears and slowly counted to ten. Once finished, she popped her ears then quietly made her way back inside.

"Dang, those ultra-sonics don't mess around. Almost blacked out myself." Leaving the sonic knock-out ball, which would knockout anyone with a high pitched frequency, Tigress moved the three hooded figures aside as she took position at the main controls where she called up the security feed.

"Wally, I'm in the control room," she said over a com unit. "Take the hostages out through the eastern corridor. It's about thirty yards down the hall you're near with no guards in sight."

"_Copy that, babe_," Wally responded. "_They'll be out and I'll be with you in flash_."

"Can't any speedster come up with something original?" Tigress muttered with a shake of her head. "Now let's see what settings you programed in here."

Flying over the keyboard, Tigress's fingers punched in several commands, bringing up a readout of every pipeline the machinery controlled. The screen turned color to blue with a white schematic forming at the masked woman's command. Various areas lit up yellow to show where the water would be treated with the pipes entering them turning green and orange for the ones leaving.

Turning to the security feed, Tigress looked for signs as to where the group was concentrating their activities with the barrels. Grabbing a marker from a nearby pencil holder, she placed 'X's where she figured the group was planning to introduce the chemicals to the city's water supply when Wally made his way into the room with her.

"So, find out what we're dealing with?" the ginger man asked as he joined her at the terminal.

"They're using hallucinogens for something, I don't know what for, but from what I can remember from Chem class, a concentrated amount would be next to impossible to counter."

"What chemicals are we talking about?"

Pulling out her camera, Tigress showed Wally the shots she took and saw is reaction.

"Holy...how many are there?" he asked once he saw what they were dealing with.

"I count three fifty five gallon drums at each water flow entrance for fifteen in all."

"And each drum holds fifty five gallons, making for eight hundred twenty five in all, fully concentrated."

"And when added to, I don't know, a thousand gallons of water flowing out of here?"

"If it goes into the city, everyone will have light hallucinations. At least I think they will. I don't know how powerful that stuff is but we can't let them poison the city like that."

"But why have everyone experience only light hallucination?" Tigress asked. "What's the purpose for that?"

"Unless the other eight stations are hit at the same time." Looking at the blonde woman beside him, Wally shook his head and let out a huff of air as he pulled out is phone. "I'm calling the League. This is just way over our heads."

"Yeah. Tell them they need to get to the other water stations as fast as they can. If those chemicals are added to the water, Palo Alto will be the next Arkham with the way things will be."

Down on the station's floor, the army of robed men went about their duties. Some loaded the drums on dollies while others took to manually open the monitor valves with large wrenches. Everyone had a job to do with their leader overseeing everything they did with a careful eye when the first sign of trouble began. Two of the robed figures suddenly went missing as a gust of wind blew past one of the semi opened valves.

A loud clang from the loaded dolly they were pushing alerted the others to their sudden disappearance followed by another as a third vanished with the wrench he held falling to the floor. At the same time, everyone in the building stopped what they were doing and were like statues as they went on alert to find the cause of their missing comrades. As one, they simultaneously moved their robes to the side and took out golden handled short swords then went back to back, forming a circle with their mistress in the center of them all.

Again, the blur of red and yellow shot past the group, taking out two more hooded men with the rest closing the gap. None moved a muscle unless it was to close rank and maintain the circle.

"You have two choices," came a feminine voice. "One, you can surrender and save yourselves a few bruises, cuts, and possibly broken bones. Or you can play dumb and receive a trip to the hospital before being taken to jail."

None of the men made a move or sound.

"Fine, choose 'B' then. More fun for us." From her position behind two closely placed metal water tanks, Tigress drew her collapsible bow and fired three smoke emitting arrows in the center of the circle the men made. None moved an inch, which suited her just fine as that meant less chasing, more hitting.

Reaching the group first, Wally connected with one of the men's hooded heads, knocking them out as he performed run-by attacks. It was not until another feminine voice spoke, when the group began to attack. The movement they made once Wally was in range was perfectly fluid. The robed person he sought to take out seemed to know when to attack and slashed with his sword, nearly cutting into the speedster's head. Had it not have been for the faster reflexes he possessed, Artemis would have been a newly made widow.

"Jeez, what..." Feeling the top of his head, the redhead noticed some of his flame colored hair lying on the ground where he nearly lost his head. "And I just got my hair the way I liked it."

"You alright out there, Speedy?" Tigress called as she launched a gel arrow to incapacitate two more of the hooded men.

"Just fine, Tigger. Your Pooh's just, hugh, just fine." Ducking another attack, Wally spun around the hooded individual and elbowed him in the back of the head. "These guys are good, so watch your butt."

"You've been out of the game longer," drawing her own sword, Tigress blocked an attack from an incoming hooded person and connected with a swift roundhouse kick to his head, "so you watch it."

"I'll watch what I wanna watch, thank you very much." Avoiding another sword slash, Wally rolled over the hooded man's back then slammed his foot into the chest of another to force him back. He then finished off his previous attacker before dashing off to continue the skirmish.

Finishing off another foe of her own, Tigress drew her crossbow and fired a bolt into the chest of an incoming attacker who fell once struck with a tazer bolt. The electrical current was enough to knock him out after having a three second shock deliver fifty thousand volts into them.

"And right now, I'm watching you, beautiful." Wiggling his eyebrows, Wally flashed his wife a grin just as a piercing screen tore through the air.

Pipes, tools, fallen weapons, and even the windows around the control booth shook. The smoke spewing from Tigress' arrow cleared immediately as the hero couple covered their ears and found themselves knocked off their feet.

"Gah!" Wall yelled, "When did Black Canary get here?"

"That's not Black Canary, moron!" Struggling back to her feet with her husband's help, Tigress drew her collapsible bow again and knocked an arrow as a pair of white boots touched the concrete floor.

What appeared to be boots at first, were in fact, bone-like appendages. Where they would end, around mid-thigh, was black as a another bone-like structure covered the woman's body, resembling a corset with sharp tendrils entering where her shoulders were. Her arms were covered from the bicep down in the same bony material with small, half inch spikes on the tips of her knuckles.

Striking a fight ready pose, both vigilantes were ready to go when they saw her face. It was like her skull was on the outside of her head with what looked like skin in the sunken in parts being the same midnight shade of black as the rest of the non-bone areas covering her body.

"Dang, what the heck happened to you?" Wally asked as the new woman stared at them with bright, piercing blue eyes.

"Looks like someone skinned her down to her skeleton," Tigress commented.

Grinning wickedly, the mistress of the hooded men let out a deep chuckle as she crouched slightly and ran her tongue along the outside of what appeared to be lip-less teeth. "Ye have no reason for bein' here," she said with a strong Irish accent. "But if death is what ye want, death is what ye gets."

Inhaling deeply, the woman unleashed a high pitched screech, sending Tigress and Wally back through the air. Both crashed into various pipes and hung onto them for dear life until the screech stopped. Neither could hear as the sound popped their ears, forcing them to struggle to get to their feet with wobbly legs.

After a devious laugh, the black and white woman took to the air, her long, white hair flowing behind her as she let out another screech with a whirlwind forming around her. The sound of metal rang out as the swords the hooded men carried rose up and followed the air current, forming a deadly barrier between her and the two former black ops members.

"It is too late to flee when ye hears the scream of the banshee," the woman said as Wally and Tigress backed up to avoid the razor sharp blades, "as ye lives are now forfeit."

With the strong whirlwind still going, the blades spun to face the couple with their sharpened ends aiming at them. After another strong gust of wind, the weapons shot forward at Wally and Tigress' heads.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Early update. Another one will come on Sunday like usual. I just really want to get this one moving along.

PinkRedRose – Maybe the next chapter on Sunday will answer your question. Kaldur does need a little love after all.

Seychelles – No, that was Silver Banshee, always wanted to bring her in somehow. And as for the other ones you asked about, one will make an appearance later on.

Riley 000 – Interesting question. I would think if something like that happened, it might be like when Isis channeled her power through Zatanna in S2. But my guess is that someone might get hurt as all that energy would have to be routed from a magic user to someone with telepathy. It would be like channeling a watermelon through a doughnut without breaking the doughnut.

Ben A – Yeah, I saw the Scooby Doo Wrestlemania movie online before it was on TV. If you go back to a previous chapter, I made a quick reference to it. Now if only the guest appearance of the YJ gang on TTG will be good…

3.

Palo Alto Water Station Number Seven

April 28

21:09 UTC

Staring down the dozens of sharpened tipped weapons, Wally and Tigress knew they had to act fast once the whirlwind suspending them shot them forward. To normal people, like Artemis, there was no way possible for avoiding the blades. Wally was another story as everything moved slower to him due to his speed powers.

The moment the weapons shot forward, Wally was already moving. It was second nature to him as he scooped his masked wife into his arms and sped away. Tigress completed the move as she drew her crossbow and fired a five bolt volley at the white and black woman. Going off in sequence, the bolts exploded in a flash bang, smoke, bola, electrical, and in-capacitance gel to bring the woman down.

Screeching to a stop clear of the deadly weapons, Wally placed Tigress down and looked back at where the bolts went as his wife reloaded her crossbow. The pipes behind where they stood were full of the short swords sticking out of them with water spilling to the floor. As for the woman, she was nowhere to be found.

"I hate it when they do this," Wally complained as he looked the area over.

"Just stay alert, Wall-man, all we can do." Cocking back the automatic hammer to her quickfire crossbow, Tigress unsheathed her sword just incase she should have to fight hand to hand. "Can't believe I missed. Chick's faster than I thought."

"And again, I'm not fast enough. May not be as fast as I was working for the enemy, but I'm still faster than when I was Kid Flash."

Moving slowly, as slowly as the ginger speed demon could, the couple stayed back to back as they advanced back to where the woman was. Around the area, every last one of the hooded individuals lay motionless with no explanation as to why none were standing. A few of Tigress' bolts lay on the ground from where they impacted, the only sign of anything being where the whirlwind was.

"Is it just me, or is this creepy, what with the silence and sleeping bad guys?" Wally asked.

Taking them by surprise, a high pitched shriek came from above them as the black and white woman swooped in. Tigress was the first to act as she fired several shots from her crossbow. The woman dodged each one of them as she rolled and flew side to side while extending her hands to grab the masked woman below her. Diving out of the way, Tigress narrowly avoided being sliced, the same could not be said for the marks left behind in the concrete.

"Wally, watch it, she's got claws!" She barely had enough time to bring her sword up to block the banshee's next attack but soon went down as a scream was unleashed right in her face.

To Tigress, it felt as if her brains were leaking out through her ears with her muscles refusing to let her move. The room spun and all her coordination was lost, reminding her of what Wally said about Count Vertigo's powers. Wincing from the pain, she tried to look up as the banshee continued to scream at her but couldn't until she disappeared in a red blur and was tackled to the ground by the speeding redhead.

Letting out a hiss, the banshee scooted back a she and Wally got to their feet. Once standing, she whipped her head around, throwing her white hair into the young man who jumped back from being sliced across his leather jacket. She then flashed a wicked smile with her tongue hanging out as she floated into the air. As she was about to unleash another scream, her eyes went wide one moment before narrowing the next. Another evil grin spread across her face as she looked down at the two semi-retired heroes.

"Ye shant be wishin to be around a banshee for long. Consider this ye only warnin."

Letting out another scream, the banshee woman summoned a vortex of air around her. Once covering her body, she let out a malice filled laugh as the vortex turned into a devilish skull before dissipating into nothing. Silence filled the water plant with only the sounds of the two left behind individuals breathing. Both were in a crouched position with their hands over their ears to block out most of the shriek but it still took them a few moments to get back to their feet.

"Okay, I hate it even more when they do that." Popping his ears, Wally again looked around and so sign of the woman. The only things left were the swords embedded in the walls and the bodies of the hooded men. "And how come they're knocked out but we're not?"

Gently nudging one of the figures with her foot, and fighting through a throbbing headache, Tigress turned it over as she gripped the handle of her sword. With Wally keeping an eye out, she carefully lifted the hood of the person and gasped slightly. Staring up with lifeless eyes, the cloaked individual had a thick, white foam cascading from his mouth. His eyes were rolled back with his face already paling. The masked woman then got back to her feet and sheathed her sword.

"These guys aren't knocked out," Tigress said. "They're dead."

"Dead? I didn't see any wounds or blood."

"Poison. Check their mouths."

Doing what he was told, Wally crouched near another of the deceased men and checked them out. Donning his goggles, the speedster analyzed the mouth foam. In less than five seconds, a display of the toxin they ingested came on screen.

"Cyanide laced with a type of snake venom," Wally told her as he wiped his gloved fingers on the dead man's cloak. "These guys wanted to make sure they died, and quick."

"What's this?" Reaching under one of the other men's cloaks, Tigress took out a small, golden pendant around the size of her palm. It was inscribed with the same symbol as the one the group painted on the walls of the treatment plant.

"Sweet, souvenir," Wally commented.

"More than that." Holding it up, Tigress examined it in the light better. "It looks like it could fit in something, like it's part of another piece."

Searching the body he was at, Wally held up a pendant exactly like his wife had found. "Got one too. They must all shop at the same place." Looking around, he made sure they were alone but could not shake of the feeling they were being watched. "Guess it's time we leave. Don't see anything else worth investigating or taking."

Grabbing a sword from where it was imbedded in a pipe, Tigress took it and the pendant she had as she pulled out a cell phone and called for the police. Even though she and Wally were semi-retired and not affiliated with a certain team, they still kept one of the encrypted League phones just in case the need for one arises.

"Alright, ready to get out of here?" Wally asked as he zipped his shredded jacket up.

"Yeah, police are on the way and the League knows about the other treatment centers. They want to meet us at the convention center to speak with us directly."

"Well then, we shan't keep them waiting, my dear." Zipping over to the masked woman, Wally flashed a dorky grin as he picked her up in his arms.

Looking at him like he had something in his teeth, Tigress thumped him on the nose, earning a light 'ouch' from him. "Just go, freckles. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back home."

"As you wish." Dashing off, Wally carried his wife off to meet the League members.

"Ugh, I hate that movie," Tigress huffed as Wally laughed.

Palo Alto Convention Center

April 28

21:42 UTC

Atop the dome structure designed to house anything from graduations to monster truck events, Wally and Tigress were finishing speaking with Captain Marvel and Red Tornado about what they ran into earlier. Both pendants and sword were handed over to the League members with the wind controlling android scanning all three. As he did so, Captain Marvel went over the pictures Tigress took and compared them to what the other League members were reporting in.

"These tanks you got shots of are similar to the ones found in the other parts of the city but with one or two additional chemicals not present here," Captain Marvel said as he cycled through Tigress' digital camera.

"Great, more bad news," added Wally. "From what you said, adding those chemicals with the other six stations would not only increase the saturation of the water, but it would create a gas compound capable of toxifying the city for an untold amount of time."

"Toxifying?" Tigress asked.

"What? It's a word."

"Actually," Red Tornado spoke in his monotone voice, "an analysis of the different compounds would suggest the ground being saturated by the secreting smoke for the period of seven months. It would resemble a thick fog capable of staying in one spot due to its weight and inability of being moved by natural wind currents."

"See, toxifying," Wally commented.

"Shut up," Tigress muttered.

Looking at the two, the red and yellow costumed Captain rose an eyebrow as he palmed the two pendants and held onto the sword. "We'll, uh, we'll look into what these symbols mean and have the sword studied. Maybe we can find some clues as to what these men and woman were really up to."

"Um, hold up a sec." Hurrying to the Captain, Wally reached out for one of the pendants. "If you don't mind, I would like a chance to study one of these in my off time. Maybe see if a museum has anything similar, or something like it."

"Don't see anything wrong with that." After Captain Marvel handed off one of the pendants, he took to the air and flew off to get back to the other League members, leaving Red Tornado, Tigress, and Wally behind.

"If you do not mind me asking," Red Tornado said, "Why is it you two continue to argue as you did when you were teenagers, even though you are in a committed relationship?"

Looking at the red and gold android, Wally pocketed the pendant while Tigress answered. "It's, it's a couple thing. Helps us become stronger."

"And it's fun in the end," Wally added.

Drawing her cross bow, Tigress loaded a grappling bolt in place but was picked up by her husband. After the two disappeared in a blur, Red Tornado turned around and formed a whirlwind around his waist to fly into the air. "Human customs still elude me."

Gotham City

April 28

22:17 UTC

Entering the apartment of Artemis' mother, Paula, a maskless Tigress and Wally entered through the window of the bedroom the former occupied as a teen. Both her and her sister's beds were still there as was the 'Alice in Wonderland poster' on the wall and a few pieces of furniture. Only a small lamp on a table between the windows provided light for the two as they shut the window behind them.

"We really needed to play burglar?" Wally asked as he unzipped his jacket. "Can't we have just used the door?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Taking her belt with her weapons off, Artemis let them drop on one of the beds as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Besides, I didn't want to wake my mom or Irey up."

Being as quiet as she could, Artemis made her way down the hall to her mother's room and gently cracked the door open. Inside on the bed was Paula and Irey, sleeping peacefully with the TV muted on some show about creatures turning to stone by day and were warriors by night. A bowl of popcorn rested between them along with a few bottles of Kool-Aid.

Standing over the bed, Artemis had her arms crossed as she looked upon her daughter and mother. "I told her no sugar before bed."

"Parents have to say no," Paula said as she rubbed her eyes and took in a breath, "but grandparents get to say yes."

"Ma, how'd you-"

"Old habits, Artemis. I'm used to sleeping with one eye open."

Sitting on the side of the bed, the blonde woman moved a few of the empty bottles to the bedside table. "How'd she do?"

"Just fine. She's got Wally's appetite. I'll have to go to the store again tomorrow."

"Mmm, hey puawa." Coming in the room, Wally had a hastily made sandwich with loose pieces of meat dangling out the back. "Sorry we're so late."

"Make that a big box store," the older Vietnamese woman said. "It's no bother, Wally. But since it's late, why not stay the night? No need in waking Irey up."

"We don't want to be a bother mom, plus, we have something to look into tomorrow," Artemis told her.

"Yeah, Zeta Tubes only take a sec to-" Before Wally could finish, his mother-in-law interrupted him.

"I'll make waffles in the morning."

"W...waffles?"

"With strawberries."

"St...strawberry waffles?"

"And bacon."

"Ba...con?" Looking from his mother-in-law to his wife, Wally stuffed the remainder of his sandwich in his mouth and quickly ate it. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't wake Irey up with how late it is and you do have an extra room."

"Way to cover yourself, road rash." Bending down, Artemis kissed her daughter on the forehead then hugged her mother. "We'll let you get back to sleep, mom. Love you."

"Love you too, Artemis, Wally."

As the two semi-retired heroes left the room, Paula moved the empty popcorn bowl to the closest table to her and grabbed the remote to switch off the TV when Wally poked his head back in. "Uh, you were serious about those waffles, right?"

"'ll be sure to make you your regular twenty."

"Sweet." Dashing over to her, Wally wrapped his arms around Paula's shoulders in a hug. "Best Mother-in-law ever." He then quickly made his way out of the room.

"Speedsters," Paula said before making herself comfortable and falling back to sleep.

Bludhaven

April 28

23:24 UTC

Kneeling atop one of two identical office buildings, the former black ops member Nightwing monitored a police bandwidth while also going through various stories of the Metropolis airfield crash some days ago. It was just too strange for a craft to have crashed in the center of a freshly repaired airport. What made it even more so was the fact it was not documented and no bodies were found.

It had took some time but eventually the masked man was able to find a clue in the wreckage after it was moved to the Metropolis police impound lot. If it had not have been for Clark Kent's help, Nightwing would have to have gone in instead of Dick Grayson. When asked about why he wanted to know about it personally, the former team member said he just had a hunch something else was going on and he was never one to ignore them.

Since the near fall of Earth about a year ago, he had decided to retake his leave of absence and try the solo game for a bit. He still had contact with the three teams, but mostly wanted to prove to himself he could indeed work alone. With crime low for the time being, the former boy wonder put nearly all of his concentration into his search for answers to the plane. Again, his work could have been considered obsessive, but he always got results from it.

"Oracle, you still there?" he asked as he continued bringing up data he had collected on his wrist computer.

"Negative," came Martian Manhunter's voice. "She has gone home for the day to get ready for work. I will be on watch duty for the time being."

"Did she leave the list I asked for?"

"Yes she did. According to the video feeds, photographs, shadows, and other information you have supplied her, she has come up with two airports in brazil the plane could have been from as well as an old private airfield."

"A plane that small would not be able to make it this far north without refueling. What was the northern most terminal?"

"That would be the private airfield. And before you ask another question, yes, Oracle did obtain photographs of the plane at a small airstrip outside Mexico City."

Instantly, three images appeared on Nightwing's wrist computer. All were shots of the plane with two in the air and one on the ground.

"Oracle cleaned them up and has determined only three passengers were in the plane. None got off and no more got on. Once it landed, satellite footage showed two hooded individuals refueling it before takeoff. She was able to track it to Metropolis from there," Martian Manhunter told him.

"Any idea who it belongs to? Did she match the numbers I gave her?"

"She did. They came back as belonging to a plane owned by an African government official who was found murdered some five years ago."

"Stolen then." Rubbing his chin, Nightwing cracked his neck when an idea hit him. J'onn, what part of Brazil was that strip located at?"

"Central, just shy of the Amazon."

"Alright, get Kori and Kara to Watchtower first thing in the morning. They were around the area when they went exploring the world months ago and, as much as I don't want to say this, tell Kori to bring the pictures she took while there. The plane being from Brazil is just too much of a coincidence to ignore with what happened to Red Devil and the cult Blue told us about."

"Understood. I will also contact batman about this and see what he has found on the matter."

"Oh, well, if uh...if he was looking into it, then uh...yeah, I'll just meet you all tomorrow."

Cutting the link to the orbiting space station, Nightwing closed out his wrist computer and sighed. "If Bats was working on this, then he's already five steps ahead of me. Wish I could beat him to the punch just one time."

He then fired a grapple line and swung off into the night.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: A Thanks to Ben A on noticing my blooper with Captain Marvel. I was writing another part with Captain Atom and mixed them up. So many captains, I swear.

4.

Watchtower

April 29

10:26 UTC

"And these are bins they keep the beads in for the costumes. I was amazed at the sheer number of the plastic orbs in which to buy and create a skin revealing costume out of but Kara refused to let me count them. And these are feathers made to decorate head dresses to wear for their parades, especially the one called 'Carnival'. And these are-"

For nearly the past half hour, a number of the League, black ops, and Titan teams had been sitting around a conference table in the orbiting base. Koriand'r had brought a number of memory cards she had filled up with pictures and short movies when she and Kara had visited Brazil during their exploration of their new home planet. Of course, the orange skinned woman had to describe what every picture was, including the ones where she accidentally pressed the shutter switch and got a few close ups of her eye or the glamor charm she wore to look more human.

"And these are cows. I really liked the one named Mumford. And Silkie liked the milk she made. He did not want to let go of her utters."

Several of those gathered around the table were silently wishing they were somewhere else. Kaldur wanted to get back to speaking with Lilith for more information on the cult she was taken prisoner by, Artemis wished she had a few more hours of sleep and that Wally was in her place instead of at work, Zatanna was trying her best to look professional throughout the Tameran's trip down memory lane, and Conner was constantly being nudged by M'gann to wake back up from being bored to sleep.

"And this is a famous statue of a man atop a mountain said to have done great things. He's a big deal." As Koriand'r swiped the picture of the statue of Jesus to the side to bring up the next shot of a side street where the two were eating food from street venders, Dick practically jumped out of his chair next to Batman.

"Wait, stop right there, Kori." Grabbing a scan of one of the pendants Wally and Artemis found, the sunglasses wearing young man quickly compared it to what he saw on screen. "That's it."

Looking next to him, Dick was about to point out the matching symbol when he saw Batman already looking at it on a separate holocomputer. "As I suspected. The scan of the pendant is the same as a ritualistic cult formed from the Babylonian times."

"Should have known you would have the answer already," Dick said.

Ignoring the muttered comment, Batman continued. "I had to make sure this was not a group of individuals copying this Cult."

"How bad," Conner asked.

"Reportedly, the Illuminate separated from them due to their ritual sacrifices, which made the Spanish Inquisition comparable to child's play."

"So what exactly are we dealing with here?" Barry, the Flash, asked.

Standing, Batman had the photo from Koriand'r's memory card enlarge to show the same design on the pendant better. "This symbol belongs to the Cult of Blood, later known as the Church of Blood. They once operated out of Zandia but it appears as if South America is their new base of operations. Not much is known about their inner workings except for the way their leaders are appointed, in which the son does away with the father when he turns twenty one. Sacrifices are a normal occurrence for them but they are very selective in who they use."

"So they sacrificed Red Devil for what, a purpose he could serve?" Barbra asked over speaker phone since she was at her civilian job.

"Precisely, but for what remains to be seen."

"Koriand'r," Wonder Woman said, "just how many pictures did you take?"

"I have filled each of my four memory cards with the pictures," Koriand'r answered proudly. "They say four GB's."

"So that's roughly three hundred per gig...twelve hundred pictures, nearly five thousand pictures in all." Dick calculated.

"Is this the only one from Brazil?" Wonder Woman asked again.

"Yes. Kara and I took many pictures there but did not switch cards."

"If you wouldn't mind, I need to have your photos scanned for any more traces of this symbol," Batman said.

"Oh that is no problem at all."

"You don't want to do that." Taking the small group by surprise, Lilith stood in the entrance to the conference room and stared at the image on the holoscreen.

"Lilith," Kaldur said as he scooted back from the table. "I did not expect for you to leave your medical room."

"Stay away from them." The tone of the young woman's voice had a clear, stern warning lacing her words.

"Um, Lilith?" M'gann said carefully as she stood. "I'm M'gann Kent. People call me Mrs. Martian. I'm a member and co-leader of the Titans. We have been informed of what had happened to you and with your permission, I could-"

"Just stay away from there. It's the best way."

"The best way for what?" Barry asked.

It took a moment, but the South American woman finally looked up at the group of heroes through her dirty blond hair. She had went from leaning on the edge of the doorway to standing in somewhat of a sunken stance with her head down.

"To live." Turning, Lilith slowly walked away in the direction of the medical ring.

"I will try to speak with her more," Kaldur said to the others as he stood and followed the woman back to her room when Artemis' phone went off with a picture of Wally on the screen.

"Go, slow poke. You're on speaker." Artemis greeted as she put her husband on speaker phone.

"Arty, I don't know how far you are in the meeting with the others, but I found something out on that pendant during my break." There was some ruffling of paper over the speaker. "From what I printed out, the symbol belongs to a cult called the Church of Blood and-"

"Um, Wally, we kind of already have that figured out."

There was a moment of silence on the line before the ginger spoke again. "Batman figured it out?"

"Batman figured it out."

"Is he right there?"

"Yep, right here, a seat down from me."

"Is he using the same Bat-scowl he always uses?"

Looking at the Dark Knight, Artemis shook her head with a grin. "You do remember you're on speaker, right?"

"...Sorry. Hanging up now."

After the audible beep of the cell signaling the conversation was over, Artemis looked around and saw her friends try not to snicker at Wally. It was useless once she saw M'gann's face and couldn't help but crack into a full-fledged smile of her own before she and the others choked back their laughter should Batman take it the wrong way.

Down the hall leading to the medical wing of Watchtower, Kaldur had finally caught up with Lilith. The woman had her arms wrapped around her with red marks where she held onto herself tightly. Not wanting to startle her, the Atlantian slowed his pace from a run to a careful walk. Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump from the contact.

"I apologize," Kaldur said. "I just-"

"Don't touch me!" Jerking away, Lilith lost her footing and stumbled into the wall beside her. A loud thud rang out from the force of her impact as she fell but was stopped as Kaldur caught her.

"Again, I apologize, but you need help. It still seems as though you are still malnourished and need more rest."

Resisting no longer, Lilith let the dark skinned hero help her back to her room and into her bed. Once settled, she hugged her knees to her chest with the blankets tightly around her.

"If you do not mind," Kaldur softly said, "could you tell me why you decided to leave your bed in your condition?"

After sniffing and shifting slightly, Lilith cautiously looked over at him. "I wanted to see the blue devil man. I couldn't find him. Then I heard all of you speaking in the room down the hall."

"What did you wish to speak to him about?"

"I wanted to know why he saved me. Why he and the younger devil saved me."

Before Kaldur could answer, she continued.

"I was supposed to die. I was supposed to be used to bring them power. One of the few, one of the few who could grant the pale man power. One of the few he needs left."

"What do you mean 'one of the few'?" Moving closer, Kaldur stood next to the young woman as she began to rock back and forth.

"Five. The five."

"Five? Five sacrifices?"

"One smart fool. One who sees through touch. One who celebrates life through movement. One who hides the good within evil. One who lives in darkness but walks in the light."

"Lilith," Kaldur said as he sat beside her. "What do you mean by all of that?"

Looking up at him with tear filled eyes, Lilith held herself tighter. "I don't want to die."

Reaching over, Kaldur put an arm around her shoulders and brought her in close. "I give you my word. I will not let anything happen to you. My friends and I will protect you."

As he sat next to Lilith, Kaldur failed to notice Conner standing just out of view of the doorway. His super-hearing picked up on everything they said, making him stop from informing the black ops leader on what he missed after Wally hung up. He also heard another sound, something he first heard when he met M'gann, the increase of a heartbeat, right before he heard the sound of metal footsteps approaching.

"Conner, glad I caught you still here." Coming up to the Kryptonian, Victor Stone, Cyborg, produced a device from one of the small doors located where his belt would be. "Thought you could use this."

Taking the device, something akin to a smart phone, Conner looked it over. "What is this, a new communicator?"

"Sort of. It's something I've been working on for a while now. The Apokalyptic tech I'm partly made of is similar to the New Genesis tech Sphere's comprised of. And after she was in my circuitry when BB brought me to you, I came up with a way for her to speak to you clearly."

Looking the device over, Conner went over the three buttons and what they did as Victor explained them to him.

"The main button on the bottom turns it on and off. The top side one is for if you want a voice instead of reading the screen. You can pick one by tapping your choice."

"And the top one?"

"That was Sphere's idea. If at any time you need her in case of an emergency, just hold it down for three seconds and she'll receive a distress call to pick you or whoever has the device up. She can track it, you, and our uniform's biochips now. I should have two more finished in a few weeks so in the meantime, you can give the first one a test run."

"Thanks, Victor."

"So, how did Kal take it when you told him what Batman's planning?" Victor asked while Conner slipped the device in the pocket of his jeans.

"Didn't say. I was giving him a moment to talk to Lilith."

"He's been spending a lot of time with her."

"Really? I thought he would be finding more about this cult."

Moving towards the wall, Victor leaned against it and crossed his arms. "He always brings her meals. Always makes time to talk to her outside of speaking to Martian Manhunter or Black Canary."

"Sounds as if he's trying to get any information he can out of her."

"Or it might be something else."

Looking back in the room, Conner saw his longtime friend still holding the Brazilian woman. "Maybe. He really hasn't been the same since he lost Tula."

"I heard about her. You never are after losing someone like that."

**Attention, all available League and team members, report to the war room at once.**

Responding to the sound of Batman's voice, Conner and Victor quickly made their way to where they were summoned with Kaldur following a few moments later.


	11. Family 3-1

**AN: In the words of the Riddler, 'Riddle me this, who are the five people mentioned by Lilith?' For those who asked, keep thinking. And as for those of you who want to know about Kaldur and Lilith, you'll just have to wait and see. (I know, I'm cruel like that.) And uh, hope you all like who make an appearance in this one.**

**Eric – Ha, I added that 'Princess Bride' bit cause she would either be a closet fan given her 'tough girl' image or Wally would quote it all the time around her, she would get tired of hearing it. I never got to play the game that came out and only saw a cut scene video on You Tube after I wrote about Aquagirl in my last story, I tend to keep a few chapters ahead of what I post to make sure I don't run out down the line and to keep my mind going with what I'm doing.**

**Riley 000 – I honesty did not think of 'Auntie Sphere' and now all I can think about is the team members passing by her and giving a 'S'up' and she beeps back 'Hey'.**

**Ben A – Agree, too many Captains and too many Johns. Atoms are just getting up there to, just have to remember who's a Captain and who's not.**

3. Family

1.

Dark side of the moon

April 29

11:59 UTC

Within the abandoned ship of Despero, an alien capable of stunning an opponent with the use of his third eye, loud slams echoed through the corridors as the silver skinned Captain Atom and Captain Marvel struggled with keeping dual large meal doors from opening. Dents appeared all around them as the silver League member used his powers to fuse the two doors together to buy them time. Neither man could understand what was being said from the being on the other side as they worked on the door and tried to contact the League for back up.

"Whatever you plan to do, do it fast," Captain Marvel said as he shut his eyes from the brightness of his partner wielding the doors together.

"Almost there," Captain Atom said as the pounding increased.

"She's really laying in with those hits."

"Doors won't hold for long, let's get out of here and back to the shuttle."

Standing from finishing the quick wield, Captain Atom lead the way with Captain Marvel flying behind him. Both League members fled as fast as they could with the sound of metal straining and at times tearing from where they were.

Since gaining access to the inside of the alien ship, Captain Atom worked with various other League members in making their way further inside the ship. Traps were practically everywhere and there was no way in bypassing the locking mechanisms to the doors, leaving him the only choice to manually slice through the ultra-strong metal, taking up hours of his time. They were wield resistant, not proof.

"This is Captain Atom to Watchtower, need assistance ASAP. Hostile alien female discovered on Despero's derelict ship. I need any and all space capable League members to meet me outside the ship and prepare for battle. Repeat, need assistance ASA-UGH!"

Stopping Captain Atom from finishing his message, a purplish energy ray shot him down, barely missing Captain Marvel who stopped to check on his partner. Another energy ray was fired from down the hall, tagging the red and yellow caped Captain who could not move in time. Instead of trying to return fire, Captain Marvel grabbed hold of the dazed Captain Atom and half drug, half carried him to where a hole was drilled into the outer door of the ship some distance away.

"League members! We need backup now!" Captain Marvel shouted as he made his way back into the shuttle. He had just enough time to shut the outer hatch of the ship when the alien rounded the corner at the end of the hall and their eyes shimmered a bright purple.

Before he could have the shuttle fully separate from the alien ship, a strong explosion sent the smaller craft hurtling into space with the alien glaring after it.

Bioship

April 29

12:17 UTC

Flying as fast as she could, Mrs. Martian had her ship's targeting systems lock onto the alien craft Despero once piloted on as it floated above the moon. Sitting in front of her pilot's chair, Starfire and Supergirl, each in their uniforms, watched as the large round object grew even larger with each passing second. It would not take long for them to reach it and see what the emergency was when the screen before them lit up with two targets, one stationary and the other making its way to the moon's surface.

"Batman," Mrs. Martian spoke into an ear mounted com unit as the Dark Knight was not one to take part in any psychic link by anyone, "I've picked up two crafts. One looks to be Despero's ship and the other has yet to-"

Instantly, her screen displayed a flickering readout of the second ship's identity.

"Scratch that, the second is the one both Captains took to the ship."

"What's the status of the League ship?" Batman asked.

"It's damaged. My Bioship suggests its electrical circuitry is failing. No wonder she couldn't identify it right away."

"Wait, what's that?" Supergirl asked as a bright purple stream of light came flying out of Despero's ship.

Using her enhanced vision, the blonde Kryptonian zoomed in on the head of the light and could barely make out a silhouette. "Can't tell who or what it is but it looks female."

"Add a bogey to that, Batman," Mrs. Martian told the Dark Knight.

"Mrs. Martian, I want you and Supergirl to follow the new target. Starfire, you're with me to save the Captains. I'll inform the rest of those in Watchtower to be on the ready should it make its way plant side."

"Understood, Star's on her way."

"Now you be good my little Bungorff." After rubbing her nose against her pet worm's the orange skinned Tameranian girl quickly made her way to the back of the Bioship as its Martian owner telepathically had it separate the front of the ship from the rear to allow Starfire to fly out into space.

"Starfire's deployed, following new target." Veering away from the moon, Mrs. Martian saw Batman's shuttle fly by to join the Tameran with a set of cross hairs zeroing in on the head of the purple streak of light. "Target locked onto."

"Do not fire until fired upon or if it gets too close to Watchtower," Batman ordered.

Inside the damaged ship Captain Marvel and Captain Atom were in, emergency lights and sirens filled the cabin as the former tried to not only pull the shuttle out of the spin it was in, but also tried to wake his partner up, as well as not lose the contents of his gut. None of the controls would respond, life support was failing, and the interior of the cabin was smoking from some of the wires being damaged. Captain Atom might have been able to survive in the vacuum of space, but Captain Marvel was a different story, especially when one included the impending crash into the surface of the moon.

"Oh man, this is so gonna ruin my weekend. It just had to be my turn to help with the derelict ship this morning, didn't it?" Bracing himself for whatever fate lay in store for him, Captain Marvel gripped onto the console before him with his eyes shut tight when everything stopped, causing him to lurch forward.

With his chest pressed against the control panel, the dark haired captain chanced to open one eye. Beads of sweat dripped down his face from the fear of having his life end with his breath caught in his throat as he looked out of the front window and saw the purple and silver clad Starfire.

"Greetings Captain Marvel. The Batman will be here shortly to pick you up," she yelled from the other side of the thick window.

"Tha, thanks." Captain Marvel fainted shortly after that from being so close to crashing into the surface of the moon. The courage of Achilles failed him when faced with the possibility of dying just now.

Back within the Bioship, Supergirl tried to get a clear visual on the individual inside the streak of purple light. Even with her telescopic and infrared vision, she still could not see anything of value. From her position in the captain's chair, Mrs. Martian made sure the head of the light was always within her ship's range in case it should turn and attack them. With the weapon systems locked on, all she had to do was keep it in sight when the purple light drastically changed course and shot for Watchtower.

"Kara, be ready to move out," Mrs. Martian ordered. "If the unknown breaks one hundred fifty miles from Watchtower, I'll need you to intercept while I slow it down."

"Gotcha." After her seat harness receded to let the blonde up, she flew into the back of the ship where Starfire was earlier and readied herself to make a beeline for the light.

Changing her ship's targeting, Mrs. Martian aimed the crosshairs in front of the light and prepared to fire in an effort to slow it down or make it stop. Keeping an eye on the distance counter, the Martian pilot shook her head as she kept the chase up.

"Last thing we need is another alien invasion. This is getting to be a cliché."

With as fast as they were traveling, the distance counter quickly reached just over two hundred miles from Watchtower, making her signal Supergirl telepathically to engage the light being. Once the blonde woman left the ship, Mrs. Martian had no choice but to fire a blast in front of the light. Oddly enough, it did indeed stop it in its path momentarily, forcing its Martian pilot to slowdown, a moment later, a barrage of purple orbs shot towards the Bioship.

Taking action, Mrs. Martian performed a barrel roll and swerved around the bright orbs. She had to break off her pursuit as the number increased so much so, it was like trying to avoid a solid column of purple light. Once she was out of the vicinity of the orbs, they stopped and the purple light continued on its path when twin streaks of red beams struck it, knocking whatever it was through space and giving the Kryptonian enough time to catch up to it.

"_M'gann, I stopped it,_" Supergirl said through the mind link. "_You want me to capture it or-_"

"Yo buleeze ma enua 'a le un swu linka!" the light covered individual yelled at Supergirl before flying toward Watchtower again.

"That almost sounded like..." Shaking her head, Supergirl raced after the being with the Bioship keeping pace with her.

Inside Watchtower, Kaldur, Dick, now in his Nightwing uniform, Artemis, and Conner watched the monitors with a feed from Batman's shuttle as both Captains and Starfire entered. All seemed fine until Mrs. Martian was seen firing at the purple light as it drew closer to the space station. Only Conner could see things clearly from the large meeting room with its massive windows facing the space battle and his cousin temporarily stop the unknown being.

"Great, it's coming right for us," Nightwing said as he made sure his mask was in place.

"Activating the shields," Barry said as he worked the holocomputer.

A dull blue light encircled the entirety of Watchtower in less than two seconds, which was two seconds too long for Batman's tastes. The aura soon vanished as it finished covering the base of the League just in time for the purple light to unleash twin purple beams of energy at the station. No one worried as they knew the beams could not penetrate the field, something they managed to salvage from the debris left of War World.

Once it saw the attack have no effect, the purple light changed directions just as Supergirl and Mrs. Martian fired to make it do so. As the light flew past them, those gathered in the meeting area felt the floor shake slightly from the force it left in its wake from being so close.

"Jeez, that thing has to be sentient," Nightwing commented. "No way it could have done something like that if it weren't."

A few seconds later, Supergirl flew past the large window, her body streamlined to pick up more speed, followed by the Bioship. Both managed to shake the floor from being close enough to Watchtower, one could have touched them by sticking out an arm. All on the other side of the window fought to keep their balance and could only stare after the three space racers.

"Conner, tell your cousin and wife no more flybys on Watchtower!" Artemis yelled. The Krypto-human only gave her an annoyed look.

"We need to move fast," Kaldur stated. "The League is already scrambled for the incoming threat. We must be as well."

_"We need flyers!"_ came Mrs. Martian's voice over the com units the team members had. _"Trajectory mapped. It looks as if it's heading for Texas or Oklahoma at this time."_

"Roger that, Mrs. Martian," Kaldur told her. "Superboy is on his way and I will notify Blue Beetle and Wondergirl. They should be in the area as well."

**Recognized, Superboy, T, one**

The bright light of the Zeta Beam flashed as the leader of the Titans teleported to Earth to intercept whatever the two alien women were chasing.

"I so need a plane," Nightwing said as he, Kaldur and Flash continued monitoring the situation.

Stepping forward, Artemis summoned a holocomputer of her own and brought up everyone's biosignatures. Since the invasion of Darkseid, the League and teams kept the small, cloth embedded chips on them for missions. She could see where everyone was and relayed that information to Batman as well as have the medical bay ready for any injuries that may occur.

Coming out of Earth's atmosphere, the purple light shot through the clouds of the blue sky with the continent of North America in its line of sight. Behind it were Supergirl who was closing in fast and the Bioship which was right behind the two. Again, the red and blue garbed Kryptonian female fired her heat vision at the light, managing to skin what looked to be a shoulder and slowing it down as it went into a spiral.

"_I think I got i-AGH!"_ stopping her mid-thought, Supergirl was struck with a twin beam of purple energy and was sent backwards, nearly crashing into the Bioship.

"_Kara!_" Watching Supergirl fly over her, Mrs. Martian never saw another twin beams of energy fire at her until it was too late.

Swerving at the last moment, the Martian woman was able to avoid the beams from striking her ship head on and managed to only suffer a hit to the left side wing. Letting out a grunt from the pain she felt through her ship, she had no choice but to break off her pursuit and give the living vessel time to heal. She was soon joined by Supergirl who helped steady the craft and telepathically told her help was coming.

As the purple light continued to descend, three objects flew into the sky to meet it head on. Flying in a 'V' formation, Conner, Cassie, who were both in their civilian attire of jeans and t-shirts, and an armored Blue Beetle raced to stop whatever this light was from reaching the ground.

"Cass, take the right side, Jaime, to the left." Charging forward, Conner thought of getting back at the light being for what it did to Kara and M'gann.

"Hey, are you in charge of us even though we're not on the same team?" Cassie asked.

"Just do it!" Conner yelled.

"Sounds like leadership's gone to his head."

"Chica, now's not a good time," Blue Beetle commented.

"I know, just trying to keep you two loose is all."

Again, purple orbs filled the air as the light being fired a large volley at the three. Reacting first, Blue Beetle fired his sonic cannon back as the other two heroes dodged as best as they could. Some found their mark but nether let them slow them down for too long.

Winding back, Conner wanted the first hit and delivered a hard right cross to the incoming light, knocking both him and the being in separate directions. Using her rope, Cassie flung it at the senior member who grabbed hold and let her fling him back toward the recovering being. With the three taking positions in front and to the sides of the light, the unknown bogey came to a stop with the purple light still surrounding it.

"Be ready for anything," Conner ordered as his two partners got ready for a fight.

Slowly, the purple light began to fade away, revealing a set of black thigh high boots leading up to tight, silver pants. A short black skirt with a silver belt came into view right before familiar orange skin with toned muscle. Next to be seen was a black top with what looked like armor covering the collarbone area and shoulders. Gloves reaching up to the being's elbows were covered in the same armor.

"Starfire?" Cassie asked quietly as the face of the being came into view.

Acting like hair, the last of the purple light swirled around as it fizzled out with the head of the being whipping up to view the three. Bright green eyes narrowed as they locked on to each hero from under a silver crown set with two green gems on either side with a larger purple one set in its center. Long black hair flowed behind what appeared to be an overall darker version of Starfire.

"Lu'swana ha en lay twaka?" the being said as she looked at Cassie first then Blue Beetle. "Un hana en lay twaka?"

"Deja vu much?" Blue Beetle said.

The orange alien girl then centered on Conner and slowly looked him over from head to toe. "Mmm, luwanna en lay Komand'r?" She then let out a sinister giggle. "Thwanka en ou'n ploonay seswanna." She gave a sinister grin that had nothing but lust behind it.

"Tuh, I hate Deja vu," Conner muttered. If she were the same as Starfire, he knew exactly what she wanted and what she would do.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sorry if this posting looks wonky but I'm currently out of town and won't be back home until late tonight or tomorrow. I'm posting this from Pages to the site using my Ipad so if it's really jacked up, I'm sorry and I'll reupload this chapter during the next update if it's that bad looking.**

**jwill21 - Starfire can but Cap. Marvel can't without a breathing device like the one he wore in the series.**

**Guest - I haven't read all the comics but I did keep some things like Braniac in te last story, even if it were a differant generation than the collector. I also kept Match's degeneration and mentioned it in the last story as well. So while I may not have read them all, I did get some things from them.**

**Mary Allen - Thanks, hope ou enjoy the rest and the other one. I'm not taking OCs. I don't write other people's characters as a rule cause I might mess them up. The only OC heavy story I did is the X-Men Evolution one I did, for example.**

**The Darkman - I have no idea. I haven't read anything about how they lost their home but I would think they were beaten by either a superior army who knew what they were capable of doing, or their leaders lost their ruling power in a contest of some sort, much like the kings in the darkages.**

**Ruffhero77 - Well, maybe I have plans for Red X but as far as his identity...maybe I'll let the readers decide if if he should have an identity other than the mask. And don't worry, I'm not one for exploding hearts.**

**Eric - Despero was a pawn for the Reach and by extent The Light. Blackfire fits in another way that will be revieled later on. Cap. Marvel can be in space but must have a breather like he wore in the show. Yes, Conner does outrank the other team members as he's in a command position. I think you'll like what I have in store for Blackfire as this is only the beginning.**

**Riley 000 - To me, the Tameran's language assiulation, would be a type of telepathic ability but only when physical contact is made. It would be like how Conner's TTK first worked with him having to touch an object to use is abilities. And I just added a natural telepathic defense to the Tamerans to add a little more power to them cause Mrs. Martian or Martian Manhunter could easily take them down. Only aliens can survive in space so humans with Meta Genes, most of them, will need a breather. Episodes will be four to five chapters long and at least 2000 words long.**

**Anon - Thanks, I'll remember that when I bring her up again, didn't catch that.**

**Lord Razor - Thanks.**

2.

Above the southern half of America

April 29

12:33 UTC

"Tuh, I hate Deja vu."

Hovering high above the land, Conner, Cassie, and Blue Beetle were in a stand off with an orange skinned woman who looked remarkably like Starfire and was staring at Conner like a piece of meat. Taking offense first, Cassie shot forward in an effort to distract the Tameran. The demi-Amazon barely managed to block two purple orbs with her mystical bracelets and engaged the black aired woman in a tie up.

As they fought for dominance, Blue Beetle targeted the alien woman with his cannon, configured to fire a paralyzing ray when another twin energy beam came at him. Letting out a grunt, the blue and black hero spun around, causing him to miss his target completely. Not even Starfire was capable of hitting him with her eye beams with such force.

Grabbing Cassie roughly by her arm and neck, the new Tameran flung her around and threw her away. "Mesl'ay una i'n un fluo'ok!"

Yelling while tumbling through the air, Cassie came to a sudden stop as Conner caught her and let her regain her composure. After making sure she was okay, he flew directly for the orange female. Throwing a left, right combination, he was taken by surprise when she dodged both shots and rammed her shoulder into him. Coming back with a knee, he managed to stagger the alien who grabbed him by the shirt and landed a headbutt, using her headpiece to cause added damage. She did not stop there as she landed a palm strike to the underside of Conner's chin.

Recovering quickly, the demi-Kryptonian clinched his hands around the back of her neck, controlling her movements before landing an elbow to the side of her face. He was soon joined by Cassie who tacked her from behind, sending the three falling to the ground.

"This is Blue Beetle, gah. Conner, Cassie and I are fighting the alien chica. Could really use some help up here." As he spoke into his com unit, Blue Beetle rubbed his shoulder. His armor was almost fully repaired but his shoulder felt as if it were dislocated from the energy blast. His scarab would pop it back in place as soon as his armor was finished.

"Blue, most of the League are guarding high priority targets or are on their own missions," Cyborg came through. "I've contacted Raven from the Titans, Zatanna, and I are on the way. ETA for all three of us, three to five minutes."

"Copy that." A loud crack occurred with a sharp pain shooting through him, signaling his shoulder was now fixed. "So wish you came with pain killers."

"Like the females of your team tell the Guardian, man up, Jaime Reyes," the scarab told him.

"Now I regret teaching you how to be sarcastic."

"You are the one who wanted me to be more 'human'. Or would you rather me go back to my old self?"

"And hear how I should vaporize everything in sight? Yeah, I would really want that."

"Is that a fact, or are you being sarcastic?"

"Sarcastic."

"Blue!" Flying up to the self arguing hero, Supergirl came to a stop with Mrs. Martian and the Bioship hovering nearby. "We heard you were engaged with the hostile. Where is it?"

"Down there," Blue Beetle answered. "My scarab's picking up her, Cass, and Conner over Texas and dropping fast, heading to the Arlington area."

"Her?" Mrs. Martian asked from the com unit.

"Yeah. The light sort of disappeared from around her and she...well...she looks like Starfire."

"That explains the orbs." Supergirl commented. "And the language."

"Okay, now we know what we're dealing with, let's get down there and help the others," Mrs. Martian instructed.

"Cy, Rae, and Zee are on their way as back up and trust me, we'll need it. She's stronger than our orange chica," Blue Beetle explained as they flew to join the other three team members.

Down on the highway leading to Arlington, cars went about their daily routine, unknowing of the three super-powered beings making their way towards them. Inside one of the many SUVs traveling down the interstate, a young boy sat staring idly out the window with his mother in the driver's seat slapping on her mascara and lipstick as she drove near seventy-five miles an hour. As he counted the eighth white colored vehicle on the road, a bight purple beam of light caught his attention and made him jump back in his seat. The next thing he saw was an orange skinned woman and a blonde woman fighting back and forth with a black haired young man catching up to them with his white shirt smoking like it was on fire.

"Mom!" the kid yelled. "Mom, mom, ma, ma, momma, momma!"

"Steven, Steven, Steven!" she yelled back. "Jeez, that's so annoying. And aren't you supposed to be sick? I swear, I will drive your butt right back to school and drop you off-WHAAA!"

Swerving across three lanes, the woman, and several other cars, tried to avoid a falling highway sign the orange alien was thrown into. Metal crashed down on the street with several unfortunate cars being struck. As the woman rolled on the asphalt, she kicked herself back into the air with chunks of the road flying after her. As for the woman in the SUV, she had a quizzical look on her face from her mascara smearing when she panicked.

"Cass, check the people in the cars, I got the alien." Breaking off, Conner left Cassie behind to do as he said and continued the chase.

Taking a quick glance back, the orange woman saw she was still being followed by the larger of the two males she encountered previously. A grin stretched across her face as it was the one she was most interested in. Banking sharply to the right, the woman followed the highway's exit to a busy street where she turned onto her back and flung more of the purple orbs at her pursuer. The sound of explosions, horns honking, and crashes occurred around her as she tried to goad the man into following her more, which was an easy feat as he wanted to end this chase with her brought down.

Avoiding the purple energy orbs, Conner rolled, swerved, and did virtually anything he could think of to stay on the woman's tail. There was a time or two when he had to catch an incoming object to make sure it would not crash into the bystanders, one of which was a parked motorcycle that nearly smashed into a mother and her baby who were walking on the sidewalk. It was here when he wished he had Sphere to return fire as he was sick of not being able to do so.

Having enough of the chase, Conner climbed higher in the air once the alien woman turned back around. Above her now, he banked to the right and picked up speed, rotating his body as he did so, and managed to catch up with her. Before she could react, the Titan leader crashed into her and forced her away from the road towards a packed parking lot, causing both to engage in a midair wrestling match as they headed for a packed stadium.

Away from the battle, but heading to it, Cyborg kept is electronic frequencies open for any news on what was happening. Raven and Zatanna were already in the vicinity with Supergirl and Mrs Martian. Increasing the output of his jetpack, something he had created to get around easier, his distance counter put him around twenty seconds from meeting up with the others and twenty seven seconds from arriving where Conner's biochip registered he was at when he saw the coordinates listed on his forearm computer screen.

"Oh this is just dandy," Cyborg said as he typed a request into his arm's built-in computer. "And it's only the top of the fifth. Great."

He then poured on more speed.

Inside the stadium, thousands of people, many more than a typical day as it was during the week, were enjoying a baseball game when a bright streak of purple light hit the infield, barely missing the player at bat and carving a trench through the pitcher's mound, across first base, and well into the right and center outfield. Men wearing blue uniforms with 'Rangers' written across their chests scrambled to get out of the way of the beam of light while the other players dressed in red did the same. Fans screamed as they watched the cause of the destruction while the cameramen recorded two beings in the air having a fight and quickly headed out of view.

"Me'ay wa'y entah unla swerackt'a!" the alien female yelled as she tried to clamp down on Conner's head with her light covered hands. "En suannah!"

Grunting, the Krypto-human forced her hands way and moved his head just as she fired her eye beams. He could feel her trying to kick off by planting her foot on his stomach but he refused to let go and forced them both down onto an empty green field far below. The force of the impact was enough to leave a shallow crater in what they found was artificial turf. The fight did not stop there as the alien woman pounced on Conner and delivered three hard lefts to his face. To this, Conner retaliated by kicking her off and over him, then flipping on top of her to deliver two elbows to her chin then pinned her arms above her head.

"Enough!" he yelled as he held her down.

Even though she was pinned, the orange alien woman did not bother to struggle. Instead of trying to get free, she laughed. "Pulay un tweenah el'ay unah wet'a'l sweena."

"Why can't you speak English or any of the seven other languages I know?" Conner sighed.

"Conner, you free to talk?" Mrs. Martian spoke over their mind link.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"Nearly to your position. I have the Bioship in camouflage mode since you two made an appearance at that baseball game. Supergirl's with me but Blue Beetle's back checking on anyone who may be injured."

"I left Cass back there on the highway. She's doing the same. Any word on backup?"

"Cyborg, Zatanna, and Raven will be here shortly."

"Can you see about getting Starfire here too? This alien looks like her and speaks the same language she did when we first met her."

"I'll send a message to Batman about it. He and Star are still in space with Captain Marvel and Captain Atom...I'm here, docking the Bioship above the stadium and coming down with Supergirl."

Keeping the alien woman pinned, Conner looked up and saw a hole open up where the near invisible Martian ship was. He first saw his cousin descend from seemingly out of nowhere then his wife soon after. Both women were about halfway to him when the orange woman took advantage of the distraction and fired her eye beams at the Martian and female Kryptonian. She then managed to get a foot against her captor's chest and kicked him off.

"En tay la'a shu'un lo mada!" Pouncing on Conner, the orange alien straddled him then grabbed him by the sides of his head and leaned in.

Arriving at the stadium, Cyborg, Zatanna, and Raven made sure those in the neighboring baseball field did not see them as they flew in through the open dome. They expected to find a fight going on but what they found took them all by surprise. On a large HD screen hanging over the football field, Conner and the alien woman's image was plastered in the center of the monitor. Both were engaged in a kiss with Conner trying to get out of the alien woman's grip and the former looking as if she were deeply enjoying what she was doing.

"What the?" Cyborg said as he came to a stop. "What happened to the fight?"

"Looks like they're making up," commented Raven, "and out."

"Get away from him!" Drawing the three hero's attention, Mrs. Martian flew directly at the alien and Conner with her fist cocked back. She was like a laser with how fast she traveled, seeking to forcibly separate the alien woman from her husband.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: **

**Eric - Thanks for letting me know about the formatting. Ipad changes a few things from pages I guess.**

**Riley 000 - Funny you should mention the Martians. I saw a posting on Tumblr and Deviant Art of a story that sounded interesting. I could do something with their powers in that one after a few more chapters here.**

3.

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

April 29

13:01 UTC

"Get her off me!" Conner shouted over the mind link as the woman all but sucked his tonsils out. She refused to let go until she was good and ready to.

Separating with an audible pop, the alien smiled menacingly at Conner with a sparkle of purple in her eyes. "Mmm, call me Komand'r, baby. You're a tasty one. How about we-"

"Get away from him!" the alien heard Mrs. Martian yell. Giggling, she darted away right before the green skinned woman could connect her fist to her head.

"M'ga-" Conner yelled.

"Con-" Not being able to apply the air brakes, Mrs. Martian slammed into her husband, sending her and him tumbling backwards along the football field and coming to a halt on the large blue star on the fifty yard line.

Rising from the ground, with matching moans, Conner and M'gann slowly got back to their feet with him helping her up. Rubbing her head, Mrs. Martian looked her husband over, taking stock of his largely burned off shirt.

"Why didn't you phase through?" Superboy asked as after he made sure she was alright.

"Why didn't you fight her off?" she retorted.

"I did. She's as strong as Starfire and about as strong as me."

"Should have used your TTK."

"I couldn't concentrate."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better."

"Aw, did I come between you and your mate?" Floating above the two, the alien woman laughed at the predicament she caused. "Trust me honey, after I kiss'em, the pervious one's always tossed out with the trash."

"Freeze!" Surrounding the new alien, Cyborg, Zatanna, and Raven were ready to unleash everything they had with the machine man targeting his sonic cannon at her head at full power.

"Oh please, like any of you could tell me what to do and expect me to comply." Grinning madly, Komand'r charged up her hands, creating the purple light around them as her eyes did the same. She was about ready to attack when a high pitched whistle drew her attention above her and twin red beams struck her square in the chest.

"They're not the only ones who expect you to comply!" Meeting the alien on the same level, Supergirl had her eyes glow red as she prepared to fight Komand'r herself. "You may look like Starfire, but-"

"Starfire?!" The name came out of the alien's mouth like a curse. "You know Starfire?!"

Before anyone could move, Komand'r charged Supergirl and attacked with her illuminated hands. Blocking did nothing as the moment the female Kryptonian did so, a blast erupted between them, sending both back from the force.

"Take her down!" On Cyborg's words, the heroes attacked as one.

With Komand'r still locked on, Cyborg fired a fully powered sonic blast but missed as she spun gracefully out of the way and hurled several of her orbs in retaliation. Try as he did, the man/machine was struck on the foot, causing his ability to stabilize himself during flight to fail, knocking him out of the air. Catching him with her telekinesis, Mrs. Martian lowered him to the ground and joined the others in the air with Conner just ahead of her.

"Azaerath Metreon Zenthos!" Harnessing her power, Raven had her dark energy create an explosion as she ripped several seats from the bleachers out of the stands and rammed them into Komand'r.

The blast was enough to stagger the alien, making her tumble backwards through the air for a bit before regaining her midair balance. Mrs. Martian was next to attack as she created an invisible fist to slam into the assailant's face. She followed that up by seeking to deliver a roundhouse kick to her head when she was grabbed and flung away. Conner faired no better as he was struck with one of her purple orbs pointblank. Spinning to the side, the Titan leader recovered enough to deliver a left cross when he was grabbed and kissed all over again.

"You just can't keep your hands off me, can you, sweetie?" She then blasted him in the face and threw him into the Martian with a laugh.

"Sniahc!" As Komand'r laughed, Zatanna had a set of mystical chains ensnare her. She had to move fast as purple beams of energy shot the spot where she was at. "Dnuorg dnuop!"

Being ripped from the air, Komand'r was slammed into the artificial turf but did not stay down for long. Using her eye beams on the chains, she cut her way free and took to the air again. She was first attacked by Raven who attempted to go hand to hand with her with her fists surrounded with black energy. No sooner had she dispatched of the Gothic girl when Cyborg fired several sonic blasts at her. She struck back with a shower of her orbs, forcing him to cover up and retreat.

As she attacked the man/machine, she failed to notice Conner and Supergirl double team her. Both Kryptonians tried to bring her down with Conner slamming his fists onto her back and Supergirl delivering an uppercut. Flipping backwards, Komand'r dodged the next attacks and managed to grab hold of Supergirl's hair then swing her around, using her to bat Conner away before she was held in place by an invisible force.

"Game over," Mrs. Martian told her as she rose with her hand out and eyes glowing a bright green. A second later, her entire demeanor changed as she lowered her hand and her eyes went back to thier regular coloring. "W, what?"

"Looks like I'm not just protected from Despero." Powering up her eye beams, Komand'r fired an struck Mrs. Martian in the chest, nearly knocking her out. "Gotta love the head accessory."

Acting fast, Raven reached her just in time to snag her team leader by the arm right before she was blasted in the back by Koriand'r. Both crashed into the ground with the wind knocked out of them as Cyborg hurried to provide cover should the orange woman try to bombard them with more orbs. As he fired blast after blast from his sonic cannon, Zatanna went hand to hand and held her own until being shot in the shoulder, knocking her out of the air and into the arms of Conner who stopped her from hitting the ground head first.

"You alright?" Conner asked as he set her down.

"Ugh, yeah," the League magician said as she rubbed her shoulder. "She may look it, but she doesn't fight like Starfire. She's trained."

"So are we."

Taking off, Conner went to join his cousin who was trading blows with Komand'r and entered into a stale mate with her. He had to hand it to the alien, whoever and whatever she was trained in was giving them a hard time. She was standing toe to toe with all of them and was even managing taking on two at a time.

Throwing a right cross, Conner's attack was ducked before receiving a knee to the stomach. With him doubled over, Komand'r slammed her knee in Supergirl's chest after flipping over the male Kryptonian. Spinning around, Conner landed a backhand to the alien's side when Supergirl came in fast with her fist cocked back. Blocking the blonde's attack, Komand'r spun around to force her two attackers to collide with each other. Hoping the Kryptonian's would take each other out, the alien woman paid them no attention as she targeted her next prey, the cyborg. She was finished with dodging his blasts and did not notice Supergirl taking hold of Conner's arm, spun around, and was flung back at her with both fists held out. The moment she was to fire her eye beams, Komand'r was hit hard from behind and tumbled forward. The attack was followed up with Conner landing a thunderous blow with his TTK behind his punch to her head.

With the fight over, both Kryptonian's looked at the groaning Komand'r as she lay in the middle of the endzone. It had took some time to get in sync with the way she fought, but the Super cousins were glad to have gained the upper hand when they did. Below the two, Cyborg's leg was letting out a few sparks, considerably less than it was when struck earlier due to the technology he was comprised of. Like Sphere, he was self healing over time. Zatanna was taking things slow as she muttered another spell to bind Komand'r's arms and legs together while making sure she could not move her head from having a neck brace put on it. She even had a metal plate cover her eyes to keep them closed. With Supergirl making sure the hostile alien woman was indeed out of the fight, Conner flew back down to check on his wife who was just getting her breath back with Raven by her side.

"Thanks for the assist," Mrs. Martian groaned. She was still a little short winded from the hit she took.

"No problem," Raven told her. "But I should thank you. That blast might have knocked me out too."

"Took all I had left to make that shield behind you. Like we told you, we watch each others backs."

"You alright?" Conner asked as he touched ground.

"Yeah, just a little woozy from having the air knocked out of me. Not that you noticed."

"What? I was busy having Kara thrown into me."

"And kissing another woman."

"She forced it."

"Twice."

"I-"

"And you didn't fight back."

"She took me by surprise."

"Um, I'm alright too. Thanks for asking," Raven said as she had her hooded cloak completely surround her.

"Sorry, are you okay, Raven?" Conner sighed as he turned to the Gothic teen.

"Like I said, I'm fine. Glad I don't go to school like the others now?"

Seeing M'gann turn on her heel and head to where Komand'r was, Conner let out a huff of air. "Glad you're here, but ticked that orange woman is too."

"M'gann," Zatanna said over the mind link. "Are your seriously-"

"No, I just like to keep him on his toes every so often." Flashing a grin, Mrs. Martian sent a private message to her husband who looked at her wide eyed.

"You're messing with me?" Conner asked.

"Just a little."

"You so owe me one later for that."

"Seeing as to what happened here just now, I say you're the one who owes me one." With the grin still on her face, M'gann continued walking with her magician friend to where Cyborg was looking Komand'r over and contacting the League. "And believe me, you will make it up to me later."

"Yes, ma'am." With a grin of his own, Conner watched as M'gann walked away when he heard a groan from beside him. "What?"

"I know what you're feeling and see what you're staring at," Raven told him before taking off to join the others. "Being an empath sucks sometimes."

Watchtower

April 2

14:34 UTC

"I cannot believe this!" Flying down the halls of the orbiting space station, Starfire was in a hurry to see the captured alien woman. Once arriving in the hanger with the shuttle Captain Marvel and Captain Atom piloted, she was informed by Batman on what the mystery being looked like and literally dropped everything to see her for herself.

Since she lived in the station since arriving on Earth, she knew the place like the back of her hand. Shooting out of the long hallway from the hanger area, she weaved through several trees in the forest room and was soon above them. If she had taken the long route, which did not involve flying, she would not be on the level where the interrogation rooms were in the short time it had taken her to leave the shuttle behind. As it was, she knew the fastest ways to get anywhere in the station through flight and would take turns so sharp, one miscalculation would have taken out an entire section of wall.

"Star?" As the Tameran came to a stop near the shielded door leading to the interrogation room, Nightwing gestured for her to join the others outside the room as the others looked the new alien over. "Sorry for the bluntness, but is what she says true? Is she your sister?"

The others, Raven, Zatanna, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash, and a just arrived Superman were standing by a large window with the others inside clearly visible. Speaking to Komand'r, Mrs. Martian, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, and Superboy were making sure what she said was not a lie by using their various powers in doing so. Through practice with Starfire, Mrs. Martian was able to find a way inside a Tameran's head, it also helped the head piece she had on was removed as it was designed to block all mental attacks, including Despero's paralyzing gaze.

"Yes, she is indeed my twin sister." Walking up to the window, she could see the dark haired version of herself sitting in a chair with her friends around her. A look of sadness came over her usual happy features. "I never thought I would see her or any of my people ever again."

"Why not, Kori?" Zatanna asked.

"I told you all about the duel I lost to her but that is only half of the story. It was also for the leadership of my entire planet of Tameran. And it was her idea."

Everyone stood in silence as she continued.

"We were both born into one of several royal families. Our planet was beautiful and there had finally come a time when it was necessary for only one ruler. So a contest was held and it came down to me and my sister with a stipulation that whomsoever loses will not only be banished but would have to become a trophy for an invading warlord who sought to turn every Tameran into slaves."

"So your sister came up with the tournament?" Flash asked. "Because that's all kinds of messed up. You know, with the stipulations that is."

"It was her idea I be banished as I was the weakest between us. I did not know of that until our fight was over. I could not go against my sister, even though I knew what would happen if she became ruler of our people. Where I was seen as a most fair and honest ruler, she was seen as an iron fisted uncaring individual. I just couldn't fight her."

"I can relate," Wonder Woman said as she came closer to Starfire. "During my time training for battle, I was expected to beat all other Amazons, my friends, in combat. It's always hard going against people you know be it sparring, light combat, or on the battle field. We had traitors who aligned themselves with Aries and attempted to overthrow my mother for control of the island. It was all the more difficult having grown up beside them as sisters."

"On Apocalypse where I was raised," Kara spoke, "it was a common thing to fight your comrades. There was no such thing as sisters or friends, other than sisters in arms. Those were words we learned upon arriving on Earth."

Leaning with her back against the glass, Kara moved a few strands of hair behind an ear. "We were expected to weed out the weak. Those who held their ground, stayed in the fight, would be seen as candidates for the status of Granny Goodness' Fury army. Those who lost, well, life meant nothing on that planet. Fail to go as hard as you can during training...they would beg for death." She then looked down and let out a sigh. "I never forgot my twenty seven."

"That, I think I could never do," Starfire muttered as she looked back inside the room.

Inside the interrogation room, those with Komand'r refused to give her an inch of leeway. Jaime's scarab kept him informed of the woman's vitals as she answered every question while Conner listened closely to her heartbeat. Cassie had her rope around the woman's wrist to force her to tell the truth and M'gann was there to make sure Koriand'r's sister would not make a move without risking being telekinetically restrained.

"Okay, now that we have all that out of the way," M'gann said as she kept her eyes on Komand'r, "we can get down to the real questions."

"And what might those be?" Komand'r asked with an air of arrogance. "How many fingers I have? How many eyes? How much gward can a gwardstall stall if a gwardstall could stall gward?"

The four heroes stared at her blankly until Cassie broke the silence. "Yeah, she may look like Kori, but she is nothing like her."

"And where is my dear baby sister, if you don't mind me asking."

"Look out the window," Conner told her while motioning with his head.

Looking through the thick glass, Komand'r saw Koriand'r standing with her left arm holding her right. "Thanks handsome, I've been wanting to see her again. Any chance I can actually speak with her?"

Growling, Conner sneered before answering the question. "Depends if she wants to talk to you. She told us what you did to her after we met her."

"And how do you know what she said was the truth? I was in a holding cell, a captive of Despero and future trophy. Had it not have been for my superior fighting skills forcing him to see me as more than a decoration, I would have my head on his wall, which would be a shame for you and, Beetle was it? I see the way you two stare at me."

"Dios mio," Jaime said while running a hand through his short, black hair. "I'm not staring at you."

"Sure about that? You and the...bigger man, obviously like what you see. Why not make your dreams come true?"

Outside the room, those gathered heard everything that was being said over an intercom close to the door. A few sinkers were held back as they remembered what happened when Koriand'r was questioned. Even though they were not present at the time, they did remember watching the recorded footage of when the first Tameranian woman embarrassed both Conner and M'gann, only it was intentional this time as Komand'r seemed to have really taken a liking to him and Jaime as well and she was not shy about hitting on both of them.

"Anyone want to bet M'gann's going to blow first?" Flash asked. "The look on her face she gets every time that Komand'r makes a comment about or even looks at Conner screams 'Step off of my boo'."

"Personally, I wouldn't put it past Cassie to say something first," Wonder Woman commented. "She does have a protective streak when it comes to what's hers."

"Would you just shut up!"

"Back off, Komand'r!"

"Well that settles that." Crossing his arms, Superman flashed a grin as both males in the room sought to settle their significant others down after they yelled at the alien woman simultaneously. "Tie."

"Anything wrong, Raven?" Zatanna asked.

"Just trying to block out the emotions," Raven answered. "The stronger ones still make it through."

"Just concentrate. Eventually the outside world will feel as if it's muffled and faded, like when I had you learn to summon energy faster for spells."

"Still sucks to be an empath."

"Oh come on, we can share," the outside crowd heard Komand'r casually say. "I won't damage them to much."

"That girl's pushing the wrong buttons," Kara said while shaking her head. "My cousin and sis-in-law? There's nothing they won't do to protect each other. And Cassie? From what I've seen, that girl's got a mean streak in battle. If it comes to it, let them fight. It'll be entertaining at least."

"We have a son!"

"Not my problem, Lime-arita."

"Like he would even consider an orange beanpole!"

"Don't knock it till you've tried it, Blonde-zilla."

"Oh man, this is great," Flash said as they continued listening to the Amazon and Martian argue with the cool headed Tameran.

Inside the room, both Jaime and Conner were getting their partners to cool down. Cassie grinded her teeth as her boyfriend softly spoke to her in an effort to convince her not to go ballistic on Komand'r. Nearby, Conner was sitting his wife down, who had her eyes glowing a bright green from anger, and was having a mental conversation with her when Komand'r goosed his rear. The unwanted touch made him jump and had M'gann renew her attempt to strangle the woman.

"I'd say it's a good time to send in Kori," Cyborg said with the others agreeing through their laughter.

"Um, guys, we're sending Koriand'r in," Zatanna said through the intercom, somewhat settling things down.

Both the demi-Amazon and the Martian woman felt their blood boil as the Tameran flirted with their significant others but had no choice but to keep their cool, or at least what cool they had left that is. Nodding to signal Koriand'r could come in, Conner made sure he was far enough away from Komand'r with M'gann as close to his side as he could manage.

Stepping back from the window, Koriand'r nodded with her eyes never leaving Komand'r.

"Be careful, Kori," Kara said. "Don't turn your back on her."

Letting out a huff of air, Koriand'r stood before the reinforced sliding door separating the room from the hall and reached to press the switch to open it.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Sorry, no answers to questions this week. Been having trouble with my internet connection with Charter's switch over to Spectrum so I'm working off limited WIFI while ordering dollar menu items every so often to stay here. I'll answer this and last weeks questions next update. Also, if you want to see some of the Titan costumes, click on my Tumblr link on my profile. I'll be posting a new pic of the new team every so often.**

4.

Watchtower

April 2

14:58 UTC

It all happened so fast. As Komand'r looked towards the door where her sister, Koriand'r stood on the other side of, she made sure the others in the room were not paying attention by looking out the corner of her eye. Cassie was holding her rope loosely while leaning against a wall. Jaime was speaking to himself, something the dark haired Tameran found strange. M'gann was currently in a conversation with those outside, informing them of her thoughts on the new alien woman. And Conner was preoccupied with someone he was speaking to through an ear mounted communicator. All was perfect, all were unsuspecting, no one knew what she had planned since being put in the room with the superpowered youths.

The moment, the exact moment the door slid open, Komand'r made her move. No sooner had Koriand'r looked at her, the dark haired Tameran pulled on the rope Cassie held, knocking her off balance and creating enough slack to slip out of it. The next was M'gann who posed the immediate threat due to her mental powers. A short range blast of her eye beams sent the Martian woman crashing into Cassie and the wall behind her. Conner was next as he was struck in the face with one of her purple orbs, blinding him temporarily. Last was Jaime who had formed his armor over himself and fired a staple to keep her down. As the staple neared its target, Komand'r grabbed it from out of the air and flung it back at him, pinning the blue and black armored teen to the wall by his neck. She then snatched the headpiece she wore during her fight earlier and slipped it on.

"Komand'r!" Koriand'r yelled just as her sister rushed out of the room and unleashed an array of her orbs to have everyone take cover.

"Star, dear," Komand'r said as she stopped momentarily, "you of all Tamerans should know, no one can hold Blackfire." She then flew down the hallway with a trail of laughter behind her.

"M'gann, you alright?" Helping her former black ops partner up, Cassie made sure she was okay before considering going after Komand'r.

"I'm fine, Cass." Rubbing her chest, M'gann tried to stand on wobbly legs then fell back to her knees. "Ugh, hit me harder than I thought."

"Rrragh, I hate aliens!" Jaime said as he succeeded in freeing himself from being stapled to the wall then saw the others. "Um, uh, you know what I mean."

Kneeling beside her, Conner checked on M'gann with his eyesight already returning. "M'gann-"

"I'm fine, Conner. Just go get her."

"Kon-El," Supergirl said as she quickly leaned in the doorway, "we need you and anyone else we can get!" Behind her, the other members of the League had already taken off after the dark haired Tameran.

"Go," M'gann told her husband. "I just need to catch my breath."

"I'll take her to medical," Cassie told him. "Then I'll join you two."

"Right. Jaime, we'll circle around and cut her off outside the forest room."

"Hermano," Jaime said as he took to the air. "Can't you use that TTK of yours to-"

"No, I might bring down Watchtower if I use it."

Leading the way, Conner flew in the opposite direction the others took off in with Blue Beetle behind him. Even though Komand'r was stronger than Koriand'r and was obviously trained for combat, those in Watchtower had the home field advantage. With multiple ways to reach the same destination, it was only a matter of outsmarting her before outnumbering her.

Flying down the corridors of Watchtower, Komand'r, going by Blackfire, kept her eyes open for any threats to arise. Upon leaving the interrogation room, she wasted no time heading for the hanger where she was brought in from. Remembering the turns in reverse, she was hoping to make it back to where the only entrance she had seen without any interference when a red blur shot past her.

"Whoa there, uh, what's your name again?" Running backwards, Flash kept an equal pace with her while slowing her down at the same time. His response was a blast from her eyes, sending him on a quick zig-zag course in an attempt to avoid them.

Growling, Blackfire came to an abrupt stop and unleashed a duo of wide beams of energy, catching the Flash and sending him into a wall. Even he could not dodge something that was everywhere. Just as she was about to take off, Wonder Woman's mystical rope snared her arm, dragging her to the ground and back from where she came.

"We are not your enemies," the Amazon princess told her. "We only want to know what you were-" Just in time, the superheroine got her arms up to block two starbolts from striking her chest and face. The moment she dropped her guard to see where Blackfire was at, she was met with a fist to her face. The alien was faster than she previously thought.

"Are you the strongest one here?" Black fire asked as she puled the lasso off her arm and let it fall to the floor.

"That's up for debate." Swooping in behind her, Superman tackled Blackfire to the ground and subdued her by pinning her arms behind her back. "I know we may seem like the aggressors, but we just want to help you."

"Sorry, you're just a little old for my taste. Your brother on the other hand..." Digging her feet into the metal flooring, Blackfire managed to pop her arms out of socket and perform a backflip to wrap her legs around the Man of Steel's neck.

With a yell, the Tameran flipped back around, throwing Superman into Wonder Woman who was just recovering from the hit she took. With her arms back in their sockets, Blackfire continued her trek to the hanger while laughing at those she left behind.

"Well, that was demoralizing," Flash muttered while rubbing his head.

"Never mind that," Superman told him. "Just keep following her."

Turning down the next hallway, Blackfire saw the forest room just beyond the exit and knew she was getting close. There were maybe a hundred more yards between the end of the corridor and the hanger. All she had to do was get to the forest room and it was a clear shot to freedom. She was just about to exit the hall when the space around her began to swirl and another hallway appeared.

"Now what?" Looking around, Blackfire found herself in the middle of a junction with one hallway continuing ahead, and one each on the left and right. With a growl, the Tameran picked the left and flew as fast as she could.

Above the maze of halls, Zatanna and Raven watched as Blackfire flew down corridor after corridor. Some led to dead ends, which forced her to back track and find another way to get to the hanger.

"You really think this will work?" Raven asked as she floated beside the League's magician.

"We only need to stall her until the others figure out what she wants and how to deal with her." Holding her hand out, Zatanna had several more corridors appear while changing the layout of the older ones. "We know she's well trained and stronger than Kori, so the best thing we can do is keep her occupied."

"Yeah well, she seems to be occupying over here."

Watching the orange skinned woman, Zatanna saw her charge up her eye beams and unleash them on the walls she created to slow her down. The black haired woman had just enough time to get out of the way as the energy beams swept the area in a circular motion. Quick thinking on Raven's part made sure the glass on one side of the room was protected from damage when they both came under attack. Both women fell quickly to the alien who used a mixture of hand to hand combat techniques and her starbolts before flying out of the forest room to the hanger.

"Raven, you okay?" Zatanna asked as she got to her knees.

"Yeah." Taking her hood off, the teen rubbed her head where she received a knee. "I understand you teaching me how to harness more energy and how to advance my spells, but do you think we can work on how to actually fight next time?"

"Yeah. No problem. Magic users are less inclined to go hand to hand after all."

Away from the two magic users, Blackfire swooped around a tight turn, coming face to face to face with Blue Beetle and Conner. Both heroes stood between her and the hanger, the only place providing an exit for her. A grin slowly formed across her lips at the sight of the two men she made comments about earlier.

"Tell you what," Blackfire said with a hint of playfulness, "you two get free passes for being so cute. You'll get a great view of me as I leave, I promise."

"Chica loca," Blue Beetle said with his left arm formed into his pulse cannon and his right formed into a bladed weapon, "we only want to see you calm down and-"

"I will only say this once, as the Queen of Tameran, no one will ever hold me. Not Glurdlesketch, not Despero, and not you two. But if you choose to bow and serve me," she let out a dark chuckle, "we'll not only have fun, but I make sure to take care of my concubines."

"Take her down!" Conner ordered with a sneer.

Within the hanger, Supergirl, who had headed there after Starfire mentioned her sister may be trying to escape, stood just out of view with her Tameranian friend standing in full view of the corridor. Both captains had been sent to the medical wing of Watchtower where Artemis was keeping track of the injured, leaving both super powered females separating the fleeing alien from the freedom of space. Why she wanted to leave, only Starfire seemed to know but did not tell anyone, although she did have a look of worry on her face evident to the blonde Kryptonian.

"Star, you okay?" Supergirl asked. A moment passed with the other young woman not saying a word. "Star?"

"Kara, if it came to it, if you had to face the Superman and the Superboy in battle, and only one of you were allowed to survive, would you be able to achieve victory?" Koriand'r's words were almost too soft to hear without the enhance hearing of the Kryptonian.

"You mean kill them?" Looking at her friend blankly, Supergirl swore she could see a sense of dread in the alien's eyes as she gently nodded.

Letting out a breath, Supergirl wrapped her arms around herself. "When I was on Apocolypse, when I was a Fury, I was told to do just that. Sisters in arms are not the same as family and even though she's your sister, you have to do what is best in the long run." She paused for a moment to choose her next words carefully. "After meeting Kal-El and Kon-El, after seeing what this world has to offer, I would like to think I would do anything to preserve it, but at the same time...I don't think I could bering myself to easily do what was necessary."

Looking at her friend, Koriand'r slightly nodded, knowing she understood what she was going through.

"If I had to, Kori, I suppose I would go through with it. I doubt anyone else on these teams wouldn't do the same. But I don't think I would be able to live with myself if that happens. I would try to find another way. I would fight to make sure it would not come to that and would only think of it as a last option."

"Perhaps I would not be forced to make that decision. At least, I hope it would not come to that."

"Hey, if it does, which I hope it doesn't, I'll take make that choice if you want. Or I'll be right there beside you." Flashing a small grin, Supergirl gave a minute shrug once Koriand'r's glowing green eyes were on her. "It's what friends do, I've heard."

"And I am glad to have you as a friend," Korind'r said while giving a small grin back.

Ending the moment between the two, a loud explosion occurred with Blue Beetle being halfway embedded into the wall at the end of the hallway. Small, purple flames died out from various spots on the metal walls around him, causing the emergency sprinklers to trigger. Emerging through the shower of water, Blackfire floated past the armored hero and blew him a kiss with an evil laugh immediately after. Draped around her torso was Conner's shirt, tied in a knot above her abdomen.

"How I do love these boys." Shaking her head of the excess water, Blackfire ran her hands through her long locks as she entered the hanger. "Good looking, strong fighters, perfect stock for bree-" A smile spread quickly the moment she saw Koriand'r standing before her. "Sister, dear. This day just keeps getting better and better."

"Komand'r," Starfire said in as strong a voice as she could, "you will cease this at once and explain to me what you are doing here."

"Trying to get out of this dump. Tell me, you're not seriously thinking of trying to stop me, the better, stronger fighter."

"We just want to know why you attacked us. Why are you here and why-"

"Why ask why? You know me, all work and no fun make for a destructive, restless queen." Powering up her fist, the black haired Tameran had her eyes glow purple as she sneered. "I would tell you to get out of my way, but it wouldn't feel like old times, my dear sister."

"Please, I do not want to do this."

"What's the saying? To bad," with a flick of her wrist, Blackfire had the starbolt forming in her fist grow in power, "so sad."


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Okay, sorry for last time. Charter went to a new thing called Spectrum and the switch over wasn't smooth for me, had to get new cable boxes and such. Did my best in answering questions from last time and this week. Also, check out my Tumblr for another Titan bio.**

**Eric - You're not the only one who hear's Tara Strong when Raven speaks. I always hear that voice when I'm writing her, so really, if I can't hear it, it's not something she'l say, at least to me that is. And yes, the League would take it easier when dealing with a threat in Watchtower. They want to both subdue her but not cause extensive damage, so all powers are being pulled. Still, Blackfire's trained, more than her sister, it's her culture as well as Starfire's from the last story.**

**Gordanx - Thanks, I do my best when writing a fight scene but hope it comes across well after re-reading it two or three times before I post it.**

**Riley 000 - For M'gann's full power, I would say she's not quit there yet. She's still considered too young for the more advanced Martian abilities but ver time, I think Martian Manhunter and the other Martians will be eclipsed by what she can do. With Garfield, I always saw him as being able to shift into an animal form but not gain their full abilities, like if he became a snake, he wouldn't have venom sacks or if he were a lizard and lost his tail, he wouldn't be able to regenerate it. So he wouldn't have Wolf's enhanced strength. Now since his origins are different in the YJ universe, it could be different with prolonged exposure to them. And the way I see it, with the League not going all out to fight Blackfire means they don't want to risk re-destroying Watchtower. As for the whole heroes killing thing, yeah, that was an insight to how they perceive dealing with an enemy. That got me thinking watching the end to Man of Steel. Superman had no choice but to kill Zodd because he was such a big threat to Earth and the people, and was the first person he met how could go toe to toe with him. It was a last resort for him.**

**Seychelles - Ha, that's what I was going for. I was inspired by Bray Wyatt from WWE. She's a major threat and so unorthodox in what she can do, there would be no game plan in dealing with her. Hope you've been enjoying her character.**

**SharKohen - Thanks. It's hard trying to decide on what to use with everything available in the history.**

**jwill21 - Thanks.**

**batman4life - Thanks. Trying my best to keep the show and the comics in sync to work with each other. Like I said before, there's just so much history the show can use.**

**Now, before you read the last of 'Family', I just have to ask, how great is it that football season's back? **

5.

Watchtower

April 2

15:29 UTC

"Please, I do not want to do this," Starfire said as she saw her twin sister prepare to fight her.

"What's the saying?" Blackfire asked as she increased the power of her starbolt. "To bad, so sad."

Charging forward, Blackfire let loose a war cry with her fists cocked back. An evil grin leaked bad intentions as she closed in on her sister when she was violently shoved to the side and crashed into a stack of metal crates the size of small Volkswagens. The few containers sitting on top clanged loudly as they fell with the sound of tearing metal causing Starfire to cover her ears.

"Good job distracting her," Supergirl said as she landed beside Starfire.

"It...it was not a distraction. I honestly did not want to fight my sister."

"Kori, she was going to fight you regardless of what you did."

Between what Supergirl was saying, Blackfire ripped apart the container she was under while yelling out her frustration. A purple beam of energy shot out and towards the ceiling, leaving a black mark as the angered Tameran floated back into the air.

"Who dares? Who are you?" Blackfire demanded.

"Supergirl. Now what do you wa-"

"Oh, Kori, resorting to get others to fight your battles for you? I knew you were weak, but this is just disgraceful. I'll cut you a deal, let me go, and I'll only maim you. Try to keep me here, and-"

"Why were you in Despero's ship?" Supergirl asked.

"Seriously? That's what you want to know? He managed to capture me and I will not go back. No man holds the queen of Tameran captive and as soon as I find him, I will destroy him and his associates, like you."

Flying into the air, Supergirl held her hands up. "I don't even know who that is. But from what I read, he was taken into custody and hasn't been heard from since."

Pulling her head back, Blackfire had a quizzical look overtake her face. "So...Despero's gone?"

"If that was his name, then...yeah."

Depowering her hands and eyes, Blackfire lowered herself to the ground and looked from Supergirl to Starfire. Both women stared back at her and slowly dropped their guards as she got a distant look in her eyes. The second Tameran then stared down at the floor and began muttering to herself. Nether heroine did anything, not knowing what to do in all honesty as they only continued to stare at her.

"Do...do you know what it was like in that ship with him? Even with my headpiece blocking his paralyzing glare, he was still a formidable opponent. No matter what I did, he was determined to make me his next conquest, to serve him for the rest of my life any way he wished me to. I thought I could overtake him, make him pay for what he did to our planet by bringing him back for punishment."

"Komand'r?" Starfire said as she stepped forward. "How did you become captured? I thought Tameran was safe with my promise to become-"

"Oh, Koriand'r." Flying forward, Komand'r hugged her sister tight. "If I had known what you might have gone through going with those outsiders, I wouldn't have come looking for you and ran into Despero. This would have never happened. I have spent many sleepless nights wondering what may have happened to my precious baby sister."

It took some time, but Supergirl finally spotted it. "Kori."

"Oh, how I missed you too, sister." Starfire said as she hugger her sibling back.

"Kori."

"Can you ever forgive me for promising you to the outsiders in attempt for peace?" Komand'r hugged her sister tighter.

"Of course, sister. I understood why it had to be done and could never be mad at you."

"Kori! Move!" Supergirl yelled, but it was too late.

Normally when a being lies, there would be a skip in their heartbeat. That was not the case this time. For someone with super hearing, like Supergirl, to miss the ultra minute skip meant only one thing, Komand'r was an excellent lier.

The moment Supergirl took off to separate her friend from her deceiving sister, she was hit hard in the face with the woman's eyebeams. Before Starfire could react, she was blasted point blank in the chest by her sister's starbolts. Sliding across the metal floor, Starfire came to a stop beside her blinded friend. Getting to her knees, the Tameran looked up at her sister who floated over to her with an evil grin.

"Still so gullible, sister dear." With her eyes glowing, Blackfire stared down at the floored women with contempt. "You were supposed to be out of my hair and giving me what is rightfully mine. Instead, I had to promise myself to that fin headed despot because you couldn't be a slave like I promised. How idiotic are you to mess that up?"

"Wha...what?" Starfire stuttered.

"There was never a contest of honor between us. I had already promised you as a slave and it was my pleasure to show him how weak and submissive you are." Reaching out with one arm, Blackfire lifted her sister off the floor and cocked her other arm back. "I really only wanted to make Despero another one of my concubines due to his power. Imagine, a being capable of rendering all enemies with single look. But with him out of the picture, it seems your male friends will suffice nicely. And as for the superiority part of our last fight," she then charged her fist up with purple energy, "I just want to make sure you remember who the better Tameran between us is."

As Blackfire readied herself to blast her sister again, her sister who could not bring herself to fight her, Supergirl used her enhanced hearing to zero in on where the dark haired Tameran was and blasted her with a heavy dose of heat vision. Flying backwards, the elder sister dropped Starfire who rubbed her chest from being struck moments ago.

"Star," Supergirl said while trying to clear her eyes. "You have to fight back."

Shaking her head, Starfire responded, "I can't fight my own sister. She's too strong."

"Well I can't see."

"But I can." Rising into the air above the two, Blackfire had her hands and eyes fully charged and was prepared to bombard the blind Kryptonian and her own sister when a small device flew through the air, struck her back, and emitted several beeps before detonating.

The blast was powerful enough to launch her into the wall behind the grounded women head first and came crashing to the ground. Before any question could be asked, a large, black and gray shape glided to the ground then rose to their feet with narrowed eyes.

"Starfire, get Supergirl out of here, now," Batman ordered while grabbing two more Bat-a-rangs from his utility belt.

Grabbing her friend, Starfire flew out of the hanger right as the large door separating the outside from the interior slammed shut. Not giving the Tameran time to fully recover, The Dark Knight threw his Bat-a-rangs then fired a grappling hook to the rafters. Once airborne, he pressed a switch on his belt and had the outside hanger doors open. The vacuum created by the yawning darkness of space began to suck everything not bolted down out, including Blackfire, who was distracted by two more exploding Bat-a-rangs.

Outside in the corridor leading to the hanger, Starfire tended to Supergirl as several of the League and other team members arrived. With some demanding what had happened, Superman and Wonder Woman glanced inside the hanger and saw Batman holding on tight to his grapple line while Blackfire struggled against the pull of the space vacuum.

"Rrr, You're going to pay for that!" Reaching out, Backfire was just about to grab hold of Batman's boot when she saw him pull out another Bat-a-rang and threw it at her. Instead of exploding, the bat shaped object burst in a large gel-like substance, much like Green Arrow's incap-gel arrows. It was enough to make her lose concentration as it covered her body, allowing the vacuum of space to claim her and for Batman to have the hanger close.

A few moments after the loud clang of the metal doors, the others were allowed to enter once a buzzer sounded an 'all clear'. Reeling in his grapple line, Batman let is cape conceal him as he acted like nothing happened to begin with. As the others filled the hanger, The Dark Knight looked back towards the wide door Blackfire was jettisoned through.

Later in the main conference room where matters of such importance took place, such as the voting of new team members, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman sat around one end of a large, 'U' shaped table with Koriand'r sitting opposite of them. Those injured earlier were taken to the infirmary while others were put on lookout for the second Tameran just in case she should attempt to strike back for what happened. So far, all they could pick up was a fast moving object matching Blackfire's mass heading away from Watchtower.

"Again, I apologize for my actions. If only I could have known my sister was not...was not here to seek freedom from an oppressor, I may have acted differently." Sitting with her head down, Koriand'r held onto her pet worm as if her life depended on doing so. She knew all about the ones referred to as 'The Trinity' of the Justice League and also knew they expected a certain behavior from the other members.

"I just could not bring myself to fight her. Even during our battle to see who would be promised to-"

"Koriand'r," Wonder Woman interrupted. "This is the third time you have told us this. We understand what you are feeling. I myself have close friends, close enough to be sisters as well as a legitimate sister I find hard to train all out with. But as I have said before, we don't blame you. Part of being a team is working together. If you have difficulty in a situation like this, we need to know. And even though she is your sister, you have to understand what she did was wrong for you. That's not how someone treats her sister. Your culture may be different than ours, although similar given the history of Earth, but you must realize she seems to only care about keeping you down and the amount of power she can obtain for herself."

"Admitingly, what she told me while trying to escape was hurtful. I had no idea she had planned something like that to be rid of me. I thought I could trust her."

"Trust is an easy thing to feel," Superman said. "There is hardly anyone with us who hasn't felt they could trust someone only to have that betrayed. But what we have told you is right, even though she was your sister, you need to stand up for yourself and do the right thing, even if that means fighting her. If she should return-"

"If she returns," Batman took over, "we need to know if we can depend on you helping us. As long as you are part of any of our teams, you need to be ready for combat at any given time and against any given foe. Personal feelings aside, can we depend on you to aid us if she comes back?"

"Subtle as always, Batman," Wonder Woman muttered.

"It's a simple question with a simple answer," he told his Amazon partner.

"I...I do not now," Koriand'r answered. "I have always loved my sister, but my friends here are like a family too." She hugged Silkie just a little closer.

"We will not ask you to take sides," Wonder Woman told her gently. "All we ask is for you to do what is best for yourself. In the meantime, try not to let this take too much of a toll on you. Family is more than just blood, and seeing as how close you have gotten with Kara, I would suspect you have another sister here."

Looking up at the three, Koriand'r gave a small nod. "Thank you. I was afraid you would be angered with me and punish me."

"There's nothing for us to be angry with you over Koriand'r, and certainly nothing to punish you for, not that we would do that. All we ask is that you remember you have teammates, friends to hep you when you need it, but to also do what is right for you."

"Thank you."

"Now, is there anything else we need to know?"

Thinking for a moment, Koriand'r went over everything she had told the three about her sister and relationship. She had plenty of thinking to do, mostly on what she would do if having to face Komand'r again. Even though she knew she should fight back, she still had a hard time seeing her as an opponent instead of a sister.

"I have told you everything you need to know." Picking up Silkie, she gave a grin as the pudgy worm wiggled in her hands. "I think I would like to see my other sister now."

Within the mess hall of Watchtower, Supergirl, sans cape-like skirt, sat against a wall with a half eaten apple in hand. A foot rested on the seat in the booth where she sat with the side of her head on the large wrap around window as her eyes scanned the ever deepening space outside. Earth sat in the corner of her vision, looking so peaceful from Watchtower with the sun just peaking out from behind it. It was a more welcome light source than the incandescent lights illuminating the interior of the space station.

Across from where she sat, light footsteps entered the mess hall, just passing where the League members would grab a tray and load up on whatever food they found appetizing, or whatever Barry and Bart left behind. Listening closely, the blonde Kryptonian could tell there was three more tables between her and the foreign body who only continued to close in on her as she took another bite of her fruit.

"Um, Kara?" Koriand'r said as she held Silkie in her arms. "Would you mind if I speak with you?"

Swallowing the bite of food, Kara shook her head but kept it against the window. "Go ahead, Kori."

Sliding into the booth on the other side of the table, Koriand'r set her pet worm down and gave him a banana. The pudgy creature instantly began nibbling on it, peel and all. "I wish to apologize for what happened earlier with my sister."

"You don't need to. I understand you not wanting to go against family. I wasn't going to force you to do something like that. But I will give your sister something, she has great aim."

"Are your eyes feeling better?"

"Just have a few spots here and there. Window filters the rays out a little, otherwise I could see clearly by now."

"That is one of the first things we learn upon gaining the ability to use starbolts." Scratching Silkie behind what could be called an ear, she let out a sigh. "To put it the way Raven says, this sucks."

Grinning with a huff, Kara sat her apple core down. "Things tend to get better. At least that's what I'm told. Not everything does though."

"No, it does not. I spoke with the Batman-"

"Still hate 'em."

"And the Wonder Woman, as well as the Superman. They gave me some things to think over, but I have already figured something out."

"And what's that?" Kara asked as she fed Silkie her leftover core.

"Komand'r may be my sister by blood, but I have another by...affiliation, I think is the word."

"Who's that? Raven?"

"You."

A small smile spread across Kara's lips at Koriand'r's words. She watched as Silkie took the last part of the apple core and happily munched on it. "After the time we spent exploring this world and what we did to experience it, I think we are sisters too. And if Komand'r comes back, I'll be right there beside you, fighting with all I have."

"I still hope that does not happen. But I promise I will do the same. I now know what she truly is and cannot allow her to continue doing what she deems is the right course of action."

"And if it does happen, you'll have your sister right by your side."


	16. Rain 4-1

**AN: Okay, another week and another chapter/episode. Before you all get to reading, I'm also posting another YJ story set apart from the two seasons I've come up with and starts after season 2. It was inspired by a posting on Tumblr and Deviant Art by iskidzz so go check that one out, she had such an interesting idea in her art that it really got me thinking. Also, Raven is now up on my Tumblr so go click the link to see my version of her for season 4.**

**Seychelles - Oh, I see. Well, there is a reason why I made her like that and it could be explained sometime later. :)**

**Eric - The truth about Blackfire's origins is scattered in what she said. Some of what she was up to was said in an earlier chapter with the rest being said last chapter. In short, Blackfire rigged a contest to hand her sister over to an alien warlord, Mongol picked her up for transport and when War World was shut down the first time, she had no way of knowing if the deal she made for her sister was complete so she went in search for Despero who she was promised to. When she found she was not where she was supposed to be and Despero wouldn't honor the deal they made, they fought and he just barely managed to capture her. Fast forward and we're here at this chapter. As for the deal, it was for power, something she basically said in this episode, and of course, there were the males she ran into. Will there be more Blackfire later on? Same Bat channel, same Bat day. (Cue the music)**

**Ben A - You just brought back so many Starfox memories for me. And honestly, I meant to put an inhibitor collar on her but that would have interfered with her sudden escape. Plus, one would have to be adjusted especially for her given how they worked in the episode 'Terrors'. They were cued to specific people and their powers.**

4. Rain

1.

Below ruins of Mount Justice

May 3

13:42 UTC

"You sure you don't need backup?"

"No my friend. We are just going in for a recon mission, nothing more. If we are discovered, we will leave as soon as we can. We are not looking for a fight, just information."

Walking through the underground hanger of what was once known as Mount Justice, Kaldur and Conner finished loading the Bioship with supplies for a mission both the Justice League and black ops team put together. Those heading out were busy making sure they had everything necessary for what needed to be done.

It had taken some time but Batman had come up with a plan all members cold agree with. In order to understand this particular enemy, they needed to start from as close to the beginning as they could. In this case, it was deep within the Brazilian rainforest where Oracle had traced the stolen plane from previously discussed a few days ago that originated near where Blue and Red Devil were sent to investigate. Only senior and heavy hitters were chosen from the League and black ops teams for what was determined a 'High Danger Mission'. Taking no chances, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Green Arrow, and a returning Blue Devil made up the squad from the League. Aqualad, Blue Beetle, and Wonder Girl represented the black ops team.

Apart from their usual field gear, each was packing a little something extra for their objectives. Given they were only going in on a recon mission, and Blue Devil was the mission adviser, it was determined they all pose as a documentary crew. At least their cover would be enough for the locals and they could feel free to venture into the dense jungle without to much trouble.

"Right, because that always happens with us." Handing Kaldur a leather backpack, Conner turned to watch several of the other team members going over their gear one last time.

"But unlike the times we went in, we now have an idea as to what we will be up against should we be caught. Blue Devil will be informing us on where we need to go on the way there. He knows the area and knows the location of this Church of Blood."

Rolling beside him, Sphere beeped a few times, causing Conner to look at the device Cyborg had made for him. "Looks like Sphere's anxious to get back to the tower. I think she likes being able to integrate with the computer systems there."

"So the translator works perfectly?"

"Yeah. Victor knew what he was doing."

"Kaldur, your group ready?" Oliver, Green Arrow, asked as he came within view in the cargo area of the Bioship.

Looking to where Cassie and Jaime were finishing up with their packs, the Atlantian gave a nod. "We are ready."

"Good," Blue Devil said as he appeared behind Oliver, "because we leave yesterday."

Titans Tower

May 3

14:07 UTC

"Good, keep it up. Watch your foot work and stay on the balls of your feet. Never stay stationary and always act, never react."

Pacing along the outside of a large training circle, M'gann carried Carter who was chewing on a rubber teething ring. It was the forth one he had gone through given his Martian teeth were just about finished forming for his young age. Inside the area, Beast Boy, the young Green Lantern, and Arrowette were sparring with holographic representations of themselves.

Each Titan member fought their blue shaded doubles and worked on not only defeating them, but were also dodging various attacks aimed at them. Computerized circles underneath each living person's feet kept score, adding points for hits landed on the holograms and deducting points for each time hey were struck with an attack from their doppelganers. Arrowette was currently in the lead, using her slashers for her form of hand to hand combat. Every once in a while, she would drop them and fight unarmed just as she was taught and did rather well considering she was more adapt at using her bow.

Just outside the training area, footsteps echoed off the walls as Raven's cloaked figure stepped within earshot of the entrance. She could hear those inside grunt from their dodges and attacks as well as M'gann issuing instructions. Stepping through the entrance, she passed a wall of treadmills and step machines and saw where the others were currently training. To the left of her were weight benches, machines, rope climbs, gymnastic bars, and heavy bags. Just a few feet from where the Martian co-leader was, was the computer terminal where they would stand behind to activate programs as well as stand clear of large clear walls that would drop down from the ceiling to shield them when powers were required.

"Keep it up! Remember to parry into an attack. Take the fight momentum and watch your double for weaknesses in your own style. Everyone has a tell when they're about to attack and this is a good opportunity to see what yours are."

Turning to look down at her son, M'gann smiled as he let out a raspberry and watched the action going on when she saw Raven from the corner of her eye. "Back so soon? I thought Zatanna would keep you for a while longer."

"I had to get out of there," Raven told her while making sure her fingerless gloves were on tight.

"If you don't mind me asking, did something happen?"

"It's nothing, just...stuff."

Switching Carter in her arms, M'gann lightly bounced him as he continued to bite down on his teething ring. "Raven, if there's something going on that makes you uncomfortable, we need to know. We train, fight, and live together, so what effects one, effects us all."

Looking into the large training circle, the gothic teen girl went back into her thoughts. It was just one of those things she had noticed once she began to work with Zatanna on harnessing energy to use with her powers. In fact, it wasn't all Zatanna but the one called Doctor Fate who was the main instigator of what would happen at the Tower of Fate. What started out as a silent vigil over her, grew to where it would almost feel like he were looking for flaws in her abilities without her noticing. He would never make it obvious, subtle was his goal by the way she felt his mystical energy lightly poke and prod at the incantations she would cast. She could also feel as if her were trying to find a way to block her when she attempted to gather the required energy for her use. It had taken her some time, but she finally had enough personal proof to see Zatanna was keeping her mind off of what was going on when he was around.

"It's nothing, just tired I guess. Garfield kept me up with his singing last night."

Letting out a soft snicker, M'gann shook her head slightly. "He does like his music."

"Then he should learn to carry a tune. Didn't you hear him?"

"Sound proof walls in our room. Conner's enhanced hearing makes it difficult for him to sleep without them."

Letting out a huff, Raven flipped her hood onto her head as a buzzer sounded to signal the end of the spar period. "Really need some of those." She then made her way to join the others for the next round of hand to hand combat training.

Brazilian Rainforest

May 3

13:26 UTC

"I hate the rainforest!"

Swiping the air round her, Cassie wanted nothing more than to kill every last insect to touch her as she and the others made their way through the thick jungle. Small, red bumps from where she had been bitten covered her exposed arms. She was thankful she had not chosen to wear shorts and a tank top like she had seen native Brazilians wear and only wished her cargo pants and button up shirt were a little cooler to offer her some relief from the heat.

"Keep it down," Oliver told her. "Documentarians love the rainforest, not hate it." He maneuvered a large pack strapped to is back to give his shoulders some relief as he carried a sophisticated camera in his hands. Like the others, he was mostly covered up in jeans and long sleeve button up shirt.

"You're not the one the mosquitoes are feasting on, I am. I deserve to voice my opinion."

"Then why don't you put on more bug spray?"

"Lot of good that does. It's not working." Stopping for a moment, the demi-Amazon maneuvered her pack around to grab a bottled water. "So humid."

"I think Cassie has the right idea," Hal said. "We should take a break. We've been hiking since around eight."

"Are we even close to this temple or shrine?" Jaime asked. He too pulled out a bandanna from his back pocket to wipe his brow and neck.

Emerging from the dense foliage and setting his spear down, Blue Devil checked his GPS before taking a seat on the leftovers of a fallen tree. "We should be around a mile away. Also, if I can hear you, they can to."

"Found any sign of that cult?" Oliver asked.

"No. I've been keeping out of sight and watching the area around you but I have not seen any trace of the ones responsible for Eddie's murder. I was hoping they would at least see you by now but it does not look as if they are in the area."

"Then we shall travel together," Kaldur stated as he sheathed a water bearer he had been using as a machete. "There is no use in keeping separated if our quarry is not around to take the bait this close to our target."

"Agreed," Blue Devil said. "After a short rest, we should call the Bioship and have it take us the rest of the way."

"Let me get this straight," Cassie said as she killed yet another, in her words, Squito-zilla, "We've been walking around since sun up to attract these guys and they may not even be here?"

"Um, Cass," Jaime said but was cut off when her hand came up to silence him.

"I've been bitten by mosquitoes, tripped over vines, struggled to breathe in this humidity, swam in a disgusting river when I could have flown over it, leaned on a tree with a snake the size of Texas trying to slip me tongue, and carrying fake sound equipment just so we can give up and use the Bioship like I suggested we do in the first place to simply take the cult by surprise? Now you want to do that?"

"We also wanted to try and interrogate any cult members we came across if we ran into them," Hal explained. "We were also planning on taking their robes and sneaking in that way too."

"Just relax, Cass," Oliver told her. "I thought you were a tomboy. You should like this stuff."

"Uh, no. I can handle a farm, not the jungle that time forgot. Even if I were a blue skinned cat-alien, I would still hate it here."

Placing a hand of her shoulder, Kaldur tried to get her to calm down. "Once we are in the Bioship, you can relax in the cool air and tend to your bites. We just have to wait five minutes for it to get here."

"The sooner, the better."

Leaning back, Cassie let out a huff of air before she took another swig of her water when Jaime nudged her. "Hey, when we get back, how would you like to go out to a movie?"

"A movie?"

"Yeah. I know it's not Cassidy or anything like that, but, you know, just to kickback and relax."

"I'd like that. And maybe we can go to Chico's Tacos afterwards."

"Told you you'd be hooked."

"Hey, as long as it's not caviar and I don't have to use a certain spoon or fork, it's all good." She then gathered the material of her shirt and tied it in a knot above her stomach.

"That I can promi-" Stopping the Hispanic teen hero was a small object on his girlfriend's lower back. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Stand up. Just for a sec."

Doing what was requested, Cassie nervously stood and watched as Jaime moved behind her before having her turn slightly. "Um, Jaime?"

"Is there anything wrong?" Kaldur asked when he saw the two.

Standing behind Cassie, Jaime's eyes grew wide with his lips forming a thin line. He then looked at the others who were all wondering what he was looking at.

"Ja...Jaime? What's wrong? What are you looking at?" The nervousness in Cassie's voice was clear as day.

"Um, well, Cass. I don't think you're...oh no." Lifting the back of her shirt up more, Jaime's eyes grew even wider.

"Jaime, what's wrong?" Hal asked.

Jaime Reyes, you do not need to be alarmed. Those are simple-

"I know what they are," Jaime told his scarab. "Um, Cassie, I just need you to turn this way for just a second."

"Why?" the blonde asked as she felt her boyfriend slowly turn her around to where the others could see what he was looking at. "Jaime? Guys? What's wrong?"

"Holy-"

"Oh my gosh."

"Oh man."

"Neat." The sound of a camera clicking was barley heard by the now slightly panicked young woman.

"Jaime, what is wrong?" Cassie all but yelled.

"Don't freak out or anything, but," he then formed his armor on an arm and had it create a small scraper at the end of his fingers. "Since we don't have salt or a lighter, I'm going to have to take these off by hand."

"Wha...what?" Cassie's eyes were now much larger than even she thought possible and it was near impossible to get her bottom lip to stop quivering. "Why would you need a lighter or salt? What are you taking off?"

"Hold still, Cass. You've got about eleven leeches on your back."

No one thought she would react the way she did. They had all readied themselves to be deafened by a shrill scream of terror given how much she hates anything slimy. She was clearly panicking before being told the news but after hearing what was on her back, Cassie did not let out a sound. She simply rolled her eyes back and fell face first into the moist dirt. The bright side to her fainting was that Jaime had one plump leech in his hand and only ten more to go.


	17. Chapter 17

**Got the Sims 4, made two households of YJ Sims. Garfield set the kitchen on fire five times, Conner got M'gann preggers (The game did this, not me so I was surprised), Wally and Dick brake every electronic gadget in the house, Bart talks to himself (Why Jaime doesn't is a mystery), and Raven seems to have a crush on Gar and has been planting notes in his locker at school, but at least no ones dead yet. And no Tumblr post just yet, still working on it.**

**Veritas1995 - Nope, it didn't go too well for Cassie. Then again, nothing seems to go well for super powered people when their close to a 'normal life'.**

**Eric - I would think leeches would be able to bite through her skin, she's not bullet proof so I think it was possible. As for the differance between Jime and Tim, I wanted to bring in a little of the comic version of him cause I always got the impression he was high strung in trying to be Batman's partner with Dick Grayson setting the bar first, which would lead to how he sees and treats others, sort of like he could only trust himself and no one else. Won't answer the Stephanie Brown question, like you requested but as for the Kid Devil one, that was a slight mistake on my part, but he was stil supposed to be Kid and not Red. The part with Nabu, I think he wouldn't be afraid, but cautious, as to what Raven's aura gives off (I think he would sense something like that but her power would keep him from reading her clearly). And thanks for the compliment on my drawings, but please note threr is a reason they all do not match up with how I described the team whle in the field. That comes later. And glad you like Carter, I'm still being careful with making a second story with an OC.**

**OMAC001 - Thanks, it's been a pleasure in writing these and hearing how others are enjoying them. And it's funny how you should mention those two Titan villains as one just might be around the corner.**

**Riley 000 - No prob on the Tumblr posts and your comment on M'gann's reason for the soundproof bedroom gave me a good laugh. And yes, fallout from the Arlington incident will be addessed later.**

**Ben A - Thanks for pointing that out, I'll look into changing it when I have a free moment (my work and training schedule sucks right now)**

2.

Bioship - Over Brazilian Rainforest

May 3

14:13 UTC

Back inside the Bioship, Jaime was sitting in front of the passed out Cassie, lightly slapping her face to wake her up. She let out a small moan as her face scrunched slightly and her head slowly shook from feeling her teammate's hands stir her eyes opening, the memory of what Jaime told her before passing out hit her and she began to squirm in her seat, making sure nothing else was on her.

"Easy. We got them all." Standing before her, Jaime handed her a water bottle and watched as she still continued to check herself for any other foreign bodies.

"I hate slimy things and I hate the rainforest!"

"We got them all. You had the ones on your back and three more on your legs. Hal scanned you with his ring to make sure there were no more. We weren't so lucky ether, except Hal."

"So I wasn't the only one who was having their blood sucked out of their veins to feed those...those disgusting, slimy, fat, pulsating little vampires?"

"Except for Hal. His ring made sure none got on him."

"...I hate power rings that aren't mine now."

"Good, you are awake." Coming in from the cargo area, Kaldur, dressed in his mission gear, sheathed his water bearers in there housings on his back. "We were waiting for you to awake before heading to the temple Blue Devil has pointed out for investigation. Hal, Oliver, and Blue Devil are changed and ready to go."

Taking his over shirt off, Jaime tossed the garment aside and had his Beetle armor cover all but his head. "I'm ready."

With her teammates looking expectingly at her, Cassie let out a small groan and ran her hand over her face. "I'm just glad I brought my stealth gear with the long sleeves. At least I'll be mostly covered. But if I find one more leech on me, I'm going to make sure those blood cultists pay for putting me through that."

Blood Temple

May 3

14:21 UTC

Keeping to the shadows along the tree line, the six man group made sure to recon the perimeter before risking going in. With the Bioship less than a minute away, they made sure a clear path was marked incase they should have to perform a hasty retreat. Electronic surveillance indicated no cameras or power sources were present as well as heat detectors showing no guards were keeping watch.

Some estimated seventy feet high, the temple looked to have been carved directly from a mountain from afar but was craved with weathered ares becoming clearer the closer the teams got to it. It was a solid building. Nothing but white, weathered stone made it up with vines and various other overgrowth climbing the outside. Four large pillars were placed in the entrance way, which was receded into the temple like an outside hallway. Large fire pits took up places around the flat, stone, open area between the structure and the tree line. To the members of the Black ops team, it looked just like any other temple one would find in Brazil's rainforest only with the strange, carved Blood Cult symbols adorning virtually everything they could see.

Using hand signals, Aqualad had Wonder Girl go in first with him following after she arrived at what was believed to be entrance to the temple. Blue Beetle stayed behind to cover them until the Atlantean leader signaled him to regroup. With the three at the entrance to the stone structure, each made sure they were ready for anything that may lie on the other side of the door.

"Are both of you ready?" Aqualad asked as he reached into a pouch and withdrew one of the pendants Wally and Artemis retrieved from those in the water station a few weeks back.

"Yeah. I still haven't seen any sign of cameras or guards." Keeping an eye out, Blue Beetle already had one arm morphed into his staple gun.

"You sure this is going to work?" Wonder Girl asked as the team's leader searched the door for any sign of entrance.

"Given how this pendant is formed, and from what Lilith has told me, there should be some sort of key hole for it to fit into. I just need to find the right location." As his hands passed over the old stone, Aqualad made sure to feel every bump and indention to find where the pendant key should go.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Lilith. Anything we should know about?"

Shaking is head, Aqualad continued his search as he answered the blonde Amazon. "I only stayed with her in an attempt to obtain any information I could. It has paid off."

"And the fact that after cleaning herself up revealed she's cute has nothing to do with it?"

It was minute, but the Atlantean's hand seemed to stagger at her words. "No. I just needed Any and all information I could get out of her."

Jaime Reyes, status of Aqualad's bio-signature indicate a rush of blood to his face, and heated skin.

Grinning under his armor, Jaime was glad he was to only one to hear his scarab tell him Aqualad was blushing at Wonder Girl's words.

"Found it." Sliding a loose square shaped stone to the side, Aqualad found where the pendant is to be placed for entry. It was just as Lilith had described, hidden behind a sliding stone on the wall.

Placing the pendant within the slot face first, to make sure the raised symbol would fit properly in the indentions, the three waited as it was rotated for a quarter of a turn with the sound of gears working coming from the other side. A few seconds later, a large portion of the wall they stood in front of began to raise slowly. Stone grinded against stone and dirt fell from the sides and bottom of the rising barrier, revealing a long stone corridor with torches lining the walls.

"Be on alert at all times. We do not know if there are traps or if any of the followers are within here." Grabbing a flashlight from his pouch, Aqualad waited for Wonder Girl to do the same before taking the first step inside. "Remember, we are to rendezvous with the others as they come in. Keep your GPS systems on should we become separated or lost."

"As long as this isn't like any Indiana Jones, National Treasure, or Librarian movie, this should be a walk in the paAAAGH!"

"Cassie!" Rushing back to where he heard Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle had his suits scanners search for what happened.

As the only one without a flashlight, as he did not need one given his scarab's light enhancing abilities, he quickly found a large hole stretching from one side of the corridor to the other to the other but no sign of his Amazonian girlfriend. Rushing to the edge of the hole, Blue Beetle and Aqualad searched the darkened pit and found Wonder Girl hovering in the air a foot or so above three foot tall serrated spikes sticking up from the ground. Nothing else was in the pit, giving them the impression no one had entered uninvited or at least tried to do so.

"Cass?" Blue Beetle called as he retracted his helmet. "Cass, you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah." Looking around herself, Wonder Girl made sure she was in no more immediate danger. "Just...thanking every deity I can think of that I can fly."

Flying quickly out of the pit, Wonder Girl set her feet on solid ground, after making sure it would not give, and looked back down where she had come from. "You used the key to get in, right?"

"That is what I have done," Aqualad answered. "I suppose I should have left it in the hidden slot outside instead of bringing it in with us."

"You think?"

"Actually, I think it would have been better if you placed it in the slot on the other side of the entrance." Reading the layout his scarab produced once his helmet was back on, Blue Beetle saw a mechanism from the trap door to the left-side wall and to a panel beside the door they entered in through. There was also another panel near the three where another pendant would go. Everything was connected together and ran off the same machinery. "It looks as if it takes two of those pendants to deactivate the traps. One to switch them off and another to keep them off."

"Great, and we only have the one. That's it I'm flying the whole way through." Floating into the air, Wonder Girl waited as the others were ready to follow her.

"That would be a good idea," Aqualad told her. You two should keep to the air and I will follow. Blue Beetle, take point and keep scanning for more of the panels. Wonder Girl, begin to drop the flares so we may find our way back incase we run into trouble."

As the two did what he instructed, the Atlantean team leader brought up his holo-computer and pulled out the sonic mapping device made to map out corridors, the same device he used in Hawaii when searching for the Trident clones lair. After the first shot, data came back and was displayed on his wrist mounted computer to show a sharp right fifty feet ahead of them when Blue Beetle found another panel. It did not take him long to find the trap it deactivated, a line of razor sharp arms stored within the walls on both sides made to slice a person in half.

"How do you want to go about this one?" Landing beside Aqualad, Blue Beetle showed him where the trap would spring. "It looks like a motion detecter on this one. The last looked to have a trigger Cass stepped on to activate it."

"You two go on ahead after I place the pendant in the panel you found. I will then throw it to you to deactivate it on the other side. The way it looks to be set up is those who enter deactivate the traps with their pendants then gather them on the way out. Express caution the deeper we go."

It was slow. The progress they made was burning time quickly with spotting and getting around the temple's security measures. There were a few Blue Beetle could deactivate or jam with others having to be bypassed carefully as they took their time deactivating them. With Aqualad's sonic pulse mapping device and Blue Beetle's scarab keeping track of where the traps were located, the trio found themselves to be close to a half mile below ground. At least a dozen corridors lay behind them with the main one opening up to a large open balcony. Stone railing kept those above the main floor from falling with large columns holding torches every ten or so feet. Intricate carvings covered virtually everything made of stone with the only empty space being the dome shaped ceiling. And then there was the chanting.

"Stay close to the ground and keep close." Issuing his orders, Aqualad took point and squat walked up to the railing, peaking through the small stone columns to see what was going on when his eyes grew wide.

Across a wide open area, a large golden circle was imbedded in the stone wall with red jewels making up what appeared to be a three or four eyed face of a horned creature. Several more torches kept it well lit with writing underneath the the golden circle. Below it stood a large crowd of red hooded figures with their heads down. All were chanting without any feeling or emotion in their words.

"What on Earth?" Keeping behind the large column to the left of Aqualad, Wonder Girl looked over the open floor below them and saw just how many people were in there. Gold littered the walls, depicting stages of some unknown being coming to life. "There has got to be a hundred people down there."

"Dios Mio." Using his scanner to zoom in on the plaques depicting different stages, Blue Beetle saw etchings of a man kneeling before an alter with a black heart within reach. As he looked down the line, the man was perceived to have eaten it and surrounded in light before becoming something else entirely.

"Do any of you know what those words on the wall are?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Can't tell you just yet," Blue Beetle told her. "My scarab's taking recordings of everything it can down here."

"Kaldur?"

Narrowing his eyes, Aqualad gave a small nod. "I do know at least two of those words. It is Atlantean."

"What does it say?"

Pausing for a bit, Aqualad could feel both Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle's eyes on him, waiting for an answer. "Demonic God."

**AN: I'll go ahead and leave it off here to set up the next part. More answers and questions will rise so be on the look out for another early chapter this week.**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: I just want to say, before you start reading this chapter, thanks to Ben A, the dates have changed. I put the wrong month and day. It's supposed to be May the third In this episode. So any other problems in continuity, please let me know. As for some demonic rights Olmacc asked about, all I have to say is, it's coming up later.**

3.

Watchtower

May 3

14:42 UTC

"In light of what transpired in Arlington, your team's judgement was poor. The alien in question should have been taken to a more secluded area before engaging in battle. As it is, the entire country was witness to yet another alien arrival and has begun to ask questions as to the reason behind it. On the other hand, due to the fast actions and decisions by Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, and Superboy, the government has listed the incident as successful in terms of actions the League and it's associates have taken. Further more, no civilian was severely injured and all repairs are being taken care of. Good job. But next time a threat should appear in a populated area, pull back, keep reconnicence, and wait for back up with confronting them in a fight as the last option available."

Sitting at the head of a long conference table, Batman had a large holo-screen behind him fade out as those with him began to stand. Information of the now dubbed, Blackfire Incident, was displayed and scrolled from bottom to top with notes on what was handled wrong and what was handled correctly. Photographs of the damage caused were shown as well as the few people who were injured in the pursuit. Despite how badly some of it was, all were relieved no one was killed.

Members from both teams involved, the black ops team and Titans, as well as Zatanna and Kara, were present and were heading for the door when the Dark Knight called Conner back. Both he and Kara knew what it was about as they had spoke about it the day after and it was only a matter of time before he had to hear it from one of the League's top leaders.

With the sliding metal door closing, Conner waited for a moment before Batman spoke again. It grew surprisingly cold in the room, strange with him being Kryptonian and naturally warmer than humans.

Staring out the window into space, Batman remained as silent and still as ever. "As leader, your job is to set the bar and example of how others act in the field. Although your actions in Texas were correct, your actions within Watchtower were not. It was evident on the recording you were acting on emotion more than anything. Blue Beetle almost had Blackfire apprehended when she coerced you into intervening. The result was her getting free. Now I want to know, are you a good choice to be the leader of a team?"

Not letting his gaze falter, Conner continued to stare into Batman's eyes. All these years in dealing with the veteran League member taught him to always have a strong front and not to show any hint of backing down. "I know it was the wrong decision. I was caught up in the moment and lost it when she mocked M'gann. I'll do better next time."

"Remember, you can not let your emotions get the best of you. While you restrained yourself from using your Tactile Telekinesis inside Watchtower, you also need to remember your teammates will be looking to you for examples on how to act in the field. I understand being a leader is still somewhat new, which is why I had Mrs. Martian put in place as co-leader with you so she could learn the same things you are. All of you, the black ops and Titans are the future of the Justice League and we need to know the world will be left in good hands."

"It will be. I made a mistake and it won't happen again."

"Good. Dismissed."

As Conner turned and headed for the door, Batman reached into his utility belt and withdrew a dark object. "And one more thing."

The moment the Krypto-human turned back around, the caped League member tossed the object at him. "Wear the glasses when in you're civilian attire."

Catching the pair of eye glasses, Conner gave a sigh and slipped them in a pocket. "Still don't get how glasses can pass for a disguise."

Batman refrained from telling him they did fool him once, and how he knew the Krypto-human would not wear them, when Zatanna passed the Krypto-clone and entered the room. "Batman, I need to speak with you if you're free."

"What is this about?"

"Raven. I think you'll want to know about this."

Blood Temple

May 3

15:07 UTC

Kneeling behind the stone railing of the balcony overlooking a large group of hooded individuals, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and Blue Beetle had found their first real clue as to what this Cult of Blood was up to. Aqualad's wrist mounted holo-computer recorded a sample of the words being spoken by the group while Blue Beetle finished taking zoomed in pictures of the area via his scarab. Wonder Girl made sure they were covered and was trying to reach the three League members to find out what they had discovered.

"Demonic god?" Wonder Girl asked. "Of all things carved into the walls, they chose demonic god?"

"I am afraid so. This is not simply a cult looking to establish themselves as some satanic group as I had believed. They seem to be attempting to raise something they call Trigon."

"Um, hermano?" Blue Beetle whispered. "It gets worse. My scarab has translated the rest of the text on the wall. Basically, it's nothing but dead languages from around the word. It's a mix of Atlantian, Latin, Arabic, Norse, Cypro Manoan, and a few others to make one coherent language."

"So, what does it say?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Uh, well, it says, 'He who is the dark lord, he who is death, he who is our demonic god, shall be granted passage through us and make the world as it should be. The smart fool, the one of sight through touch, the one celebrating life through movement, the one who hides good within evil, shall spill their life for the one who lives in darkness and treads in light.'"

"Okay, that's not insane at all."

"No, it is not." Thinking back, the Atlantian leader went over the words Lilith had told him and agreed with what Wonder Girl had said, even though she was being sarcastic. "Lilith said the same thing, about the five sacrifices. Beetle, any way you can translate what they are chanting?"

"One second." Giving his scarab time to do it's 'magic', Blue Beetle waited for the translated words to display in front of his eyes as his back mounted friend finished its job. "Okay...'All hail Trigon...God of Gods, God of Darkness, God of Blood, God of Slaughter, God of Fire, God of Never Ending Death...He who is with him...shall be made part of him...He who is against him shall be...destroyed. Through his offspring he shall...rise...and take his place as lord and master...of all things living and dead."

"Uh, guys," Wonder Girl whispered from her spot near the hall entrance.

"I don't understand the rest," Blue Beetle said. "It's something about four sacrifices but their carvings say five...and something about the Dagger of Harvesting?"

"Guys?"

"If they indicate four sacrifices, then one has been performed, but who?" Aqualad questioned.

"Guys! Hey!"

"Maybe the sacrifice they did was Eddie?" Blue Beetle told him. "Lilith did say he was sacrificed with a knife when she was hiding with Blue Devil."

"Oh, forget it," Wonder Girl whispered then disappeared.

"But if that is true, then what and where is this Dagger of Harvesting?" Aqualad asked. "And which one of the sacrifices is Eddie?"

Searching the open area below them again, Blue Beetle zoomed in on an alter with a raised square stone on top. Carved into the rock was something reminiscent of a three bladed weapon. "I don't think it's here. And there's nothing saying who the sacrifices are."

Startling the two, a thud came from behind them, tearing their gaze away from the group below and back to where the hallway was. Standing in the middle of the corridor, Wonder Girl was dusting her hands off with two hooded men lying unconscious at her feet. "Next time I say something when I say it, you had better hear me say it."

"Now you see why I like her?" Blue Beetle whispered to Aqualad. "She's total awesomeness."

Grinning, Wonder Girl responded with a wink. "And don't you forget it."

Closing out his wrist computer, Aqualad gave one last look at the group below them before signaling to back out slowly. The three man team did so without a sound, leaving the two unconscious cult members slumped in the shadows.

Down on the floor, the gathering of hooded men continued their chant, never turning to see the three black ops heroes leaving their vicinity when they all stopped at the same time. An erie silence settled over the group as one cult member in front of them slightly picked his head up and opened his eyes. Slowly, he brought his arm up, a closed fist rose in the air with him saying nothing. Extending two fingers, he motioned for the group to move out, and kill the intruders.

Watchtower

May 3

15:09 UTC

"So you see my point."

Walking around the large conference table within the room they were in, Zatanna was just finishing up her findings and concerns with Batman.

"Rachel is not entirely human and has a much darker lineage. What that is, I and my father do not yet know. All we have gathered through our mutual work with her, is a power rivaling the most powerful of all lords of order, by far stronger than my father and is something we can not seem to even begin to comprehend."

Watching the magician come to a stop at the start of the table, Batman let out a heavy breath. "So this is what Doctor Fate has been trying to discover on his own."

"What? Batman, did you-"

"Yes. I was made aware of a number of things you have presented here and have allowed your father to work on this potential threat alone."

"But, but why? Why wouldn't you help him or have someone else help him? Why would you not even say anything to anyone in the League? Or to Conner or M'gann? They not only have a hand in training her, but she lives in Titans Tower. She could have easy access to any one of us should she turn away from us."

"Doctor Fate requested for everything to be held close to the vest as much as possible as this mater must be held delicately. He first came to me about this shortly after the battle on Roanoke Island, describing what he sensed when in close proximity to her. He has expressed everything you have told me and believes there is no threat at this point as do I. With you now knowing about what he has discovered, I can only assume he is just about ready to bring this issue to the entire League."

"So you're not going to tell them?" Zatanna asked, dumbfounded even she has been kept in the dark about the Gothic girl.

"It is up to your father, Doctor Fate."

Letting out a sigh, Zatanna ran a hand through her black locks. "You do know this may not go over well with her or any of the Titans, right? We should have all been in the loop on this. I'll speak with Fate. This has to be known by everyone."

As she turned to leave, Batman called her name, stopping her in her tracks. The tone he used was one every League member has heard in the field, stern and authoritative. Coming to a stop, she had just turned to meet his gaze when he walked by, telling her one final thing. His words made her eyes widen as it was a confession, something no one would have thought the Batman would ever admit. As the metal door slid shut behind him, Zatanna lowered her head and leaned against one of the many chairs around the conference table with her hands resting on the seat's back and muttered what he told her.

"There's no plan for this? How can there be no plan for this?"


End file.
